Immanuel Wilkins Quartet

Musical Style: Jazz

band:

Immanuel Wilkins, alto sax

Micah Thomas, piano

Ryoma Takenaga, bass

Savannah Harris, drums

Award winning alto saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins burst onto the musical scene in 2020 with the release of his critically acclaimed Blue Note recording debut, Omega. October 2024 saw the release of Wilkins’ third album on the legendary Blue Note label with Blues Blood.

Accolades, awards, and critical acclaim have followed with each of Wilkins’ album releases. In 2020, Omega was named the best new jazz release by The New York Times, the best debut jazz album by NPR, and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Best Jazz recording. The year ended on an even higher note, with Wilkins winning the prestigious Letter One Rising Stars Award. Two years later, Wilkins released his sophomore album on Blue Note, The 7th Hand. Like his debut release, The 7th Hand topped numerous year-end lists including Jazzwise, NPR, The New York Times, The Financial Times, and JazzTimes. In 2023, Wilkins was awarded with three DownBeat Critics Poll Awards: Best Alto Saxophonist, Best Rising Star Composer, and Best Rising Star Group. In 2024, his quartet won the prize for best international live act of the year by the German Deutscher Jazz Preis.

Wilkins and his quartet have toured extensively and graced some of the most esteemed stages in the world. Notable performances include the Montreal Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Pori Jazz, and the Newport Jazz Festival, plus the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, SFJAZZ, and Elbphilharmonie.

Being a bandleader with a working group has allowed Wilkins to grow both as a composer and as an arranger and has led to him receiving numerous commissions and grants including: The National Jazz Museum in Harlem Commission (2020), The Jazz Gallery Artist Residency Commission (in collaboration with Sidra Bell Dance NY, 2020), The Kimmel Center Artist in Residence Commission Program (in collaboration with photographer Rog Walker and videographer David Dempewolf, 2020), The Roulette Emerging Artist Commission Program (2021), The South Arts Creativity Residency Grant (with fellow saxophonist and mentor, Odean Pope, 2022), and the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Grant (in collaboration with saxophonist Odean Pope and poet Herman Beavers, 2023). Wilkins constantly seeks out opportunities for creative connections with artists both within and outside the world of Jazz. The realm of visual arts is of particular interest to Wilkins. He has worked with the filmmakers Cauleen Smith and Ja’Tovia Gary, the sculptrice Kennedy Yanko, the painter Leslie Hewitt, and the interdisciplinary artist Theaster Gates. These collaborations have played a decisive role in his ever-expanding aesthetic vision.

In addition to touring as a leader, Wilkins continues to record and share the bandstand with both his peers and his longtime mentors including: Jason Moran, Kenny Barron, Wynton Marsalis, Bob Dylan, Solange, Joel Ross, Gerald Clayton, and Lalah Hathaway to name just a handful.

Wilkins’ interest and passion for sharing and preserving jazz musical traditions has led him to continue to give back to his community and to present clinics and masterclasses at various educational institutions including: The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, Yale University, The Consevatorium van Amsterdam, Basel Jazz Schule, The Faculty of Music in Belgrade, The Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, and Oberlin to name just a few. He also teaches regularly at NYU and the School of Jazz at the New School in New York City.

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