Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (Live) Immanuel Wilkins

• 1 THE BIG COUNTRY (Live) 16:00
• 2 WAITING PT. 1 (Live) 14:19
• 3 CITRINE (Live) 07:06
• 4 GRACE AND MERCY (Live) 14:11
• 5 GO 'HEAD GET DOWN (Live) 05:49
• Total Runtime 57:25

Info for Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 (Live)

Vol. 2 - Live at the Village Vanguard, NY 2025: GRAMMY-nominated alto saxophonist & composer Immanuel Wilkins is set to release his first-ever live album, a searing 3-volume document of his acclaimed quartet in action at a hallowed NYC jazz shrine: Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard. Wilkins’ quartet featuring Micah Thomas on piano, Ryoma Takenaga on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums.

It is precisely this ambitious sono-spatial experiment that Wilkins takes on in this album: channeling the essence of a location that has witnessed numerous legendary performances. From John Coltrane to Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans to Elvin Jones, Dizzy Gillespie to Dexter Gordon (to name just a few), the Village Vanguard is a place where the sonic history of jazz dwells in the walls, floorboards, and ceiling. It is a venue many describe as holding cumulative layers of musical genius from decades of jazz performances. Live at the Village Vanguard is a bold endeavor to summon the Vanguard’s sonic history and make it audible. It harnesses this legacy and reactivates it as what he defines as practice – a practice of improvisational sounding, congregational listening, and devotional ritual.

"This grand, three-volume live outing . . . goes down as easily as any of the classic Live At The Village Vanguard recordings we built our collections on." (Mike Jurkovic, AllAboutJazz)

Immanuel Wilkins, alto saxophone
Micah Thomas, piano
Ryoma Takenaga, bass
Kweku Sumbry, drums

Immanuel Wilkins
is a Saxophonist, Composer, Arranger, and Bandleader from the greater Philadelphia-area. While growing up, he honed his skills in the church and studied in programs dedicated to teaching jazz music like the Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts. Moving to New York in 2015, Immanuel proceeded to earn his bachelor’s degree in Music at Juillard (studying with the saxophonists Bruce Williams and the late Joe Temperley) while simultaneously establishing himself as an in-demand sideman, touring in Japan, Europe, South America, The United Arab Emirates, and the United States and working and/or recording with artists like Jason Moran, the Count Basie Orchestra, Delfeayo Marsalis, Joel Ross, Aaron Parks, Gerald Clayton, Gretchen Parlato, Lalah Hathaway, Solange Knowles, Bob Dylan, and Wynton Marsalis to name just a few. It was also during this same period that he formed his quartet featuring his long-time bandmates: Micah Thomas (piano), Daryl Johns (bass) and Kweku Sumbry (drums).

Being a bandleader and having a working group for over four years has allowed Immanuel to grow both as a composer and arranger — and has led to him receiving a number of commissions including, most recently, from The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, The Jazz Gallery Artist Residency Commission Program (A collaboration with Sidra Bell Dance NY, 2020 ) and The Kimmel Center Artist in Residence for 2020 ( a collaboration with photographer Rog Walker and videographer David Dempewolf) Being emerged in the scene at a young age and sharing the stage with various jazz masters, has inspired Immanuel to pursue his goal of being a positive force in music and society. This includes quite an impressive resumé as an educator. In addition to teaching at NYU and the New School, he has taught and given master classes and clinics at schools/venues like Oberlin, Yale and the Kimmel Center.

Ultimately, Immanuel’s mission is to create a sound that has a profound spiritual and emotional impact which will allow him to become a great leader in the long lineage of jazz musicians. Through studying the human pathos of the music and the culture of jazz, Immanuel aspires to bring people together through the commonality of love and belief in this music. His debut recording, Omega — produced by Jason Moran— will be released on Blue Note Recordings on August 7, 2020.

This album contains no booklet.