Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Immanuel Wilkins: The 7th Hand

9

Immanuel Wilkins: The 7th Hand

By

Sign in to view read count
Immanuel Wilkins: The 7th Hand
That we are free to think saxophone firebrand Immanuel Wilkins' 2020 Blue Note debut Omega served as a sign of hope amid a particularly hopeless year puts an awful lot of weight on the shoulders of a 25-year-old and, beyond doubt, colors the fate of The 7th Hand. Humbly and characteristically, Wilkins and company meet the challenge head-on.

Searching for nothingness in a culture of excess, "Lift," the seventh and closing exhortation to empathy that guides The 7th Hand, is majestic in its creation. It emanates, it culminates, it blesses. From clouds of revelation, it formulates, like Om, like Ascension, into holy music which must be heard. Wilkins, the ever determined spirit, while his stalwart compatriots—pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Daryl Johns, and drummer Kweku Sumbry—provide the shifting sands at his feet, the winds which blow equally with him and against him.

"Lift" alone is worth the price of admission. "Lighthouse," "Witness," "Emanation," and the thrilling whole of The 7th Hand cover the drink minimum, dinner, and taxi home. This is music on a whole other level. Tight as a three-minute-single, the quartet seizes each of Wilkins' heady concepts and questions of time with a cutting vigor and dynamic which only comes by once in every generation.

Thomas is especially spatial and expansive, opening if not entirely new vistas, then many of the less trammeled ones. How seamlessly the crisp, pop buoyant interplay of "Emanation" leads into the tribal rhythms of "Don't Break" (featuring Sumbry and his Farafina Kan Percussion Ensemble) remains an elusive discovery however many listens one embarks upon. As a reflective pool of prayer, "Fugitive Ritual, Selah" begs us to pause, consider, redeem. Bassist Johns continues his ever elastic journey, while flutist Elena Pinderhughes adds active color and lyric depth to "Witness" and "Lighthouse," each tune keenly displaying Wilkins' acute dexterity for ballad and rave-up.

In closing, The 7th Hand proves that we can think big again, that we can imagine beyond self-inflicted or political margins again, and that the zeal for something better is not only possible, but truly within our grasp.

Track Listing

Emanation; Don’t Break; Fugitive Ritual, Selah; Shadow; Witness; Lighthouse; Lift.

Personnel

Additional Instrumentation

Elena Pinderhughes: flute; Farafina Kan Percussion Ensemble: Kweku Sumbry: lead djembe, bass djembe; Agyei Keita Edwards: lead djembe; Adrian Somerville Jr.: sangban; Jamal Dickerson: doundunba; Yao Akoto: kenkeni.

Album information

Title: The 7th Hand | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.