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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6, 9:30 PM
Immanuel Wilkins - Blues Blood
The opening concert of the 34th edition of Guimarães Jazz can be understood as a kind of metaphor for what this festival represents and aims to communicate. It presents an elegiac tribute, paid by a musician of the new generation now entering his professional maturity in jazz, to the deepest roots of the genre – the blues blood (or, in its original formulation, “Blues Blood”) that still runs through the veins of African American culture. In this project by saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, an immaterial bridge between past and future is condensed, generating countless possibilities for creative synthesis – a reflection, in essence, of the ambition of this festival as a project that seeks to promote jazz across all its historical phases.
Born in Pittsburgh and based in New York City since 2015, Immanuel Wilkins (b. 1997), currently twenty-eight years old, is one of the most prominent names among the emerging generation of contemporary jazz musicians, now stepping into his musical adulthood. Wilkins became involved with music from a very young age and, as a teenager, encountered jazz through educational programs within his religious community – a formative experience that led him to pursue advanced music studies at the prestigious Juilliard School. Introduced to the jazz scene under the mentorship of Ambrose Akinmusire, Wilkins’s artistic path has thus far proven both ambitious and fruitful, not only as a composer but also as a collaborator with leading figures in today's jazz world, including Kenny Barron, Joel Ross, Wynton Marsalis, Solange Knowles, and Jason Moran – the latter being the pianist with whom he collaborated on the concert series In My Mind: Monk at Town Hall, a tribute to Thelonious Monk.
Wilkins’s debut album Omega, produced by Jason Moran and released in 2020, marked his first recording as a leader, fronting a quartet composed of Micah Thomas, Daryl Johns, and Kweku Sumbry – all fellow musicians of his generation. This same core unit, later expanded with a percussion ensemble, was also responsible for recording the 2022 suite The 7th Hand. Both works make clear the spiritual dimension of Wilkins’s craft, reflecting his commitment to honoring not only the musical and artistic but also the political and religious legacy of African American culture. This is, in fact, the central theme of his most recent project, Blues Blood, which gave rise to an eponymous album released last year. It is an ambitious, multidimensional, meditative, and atmospheric work that has been widely acclaimed by jazz critics.
Joining Wilkins on this heartfelt journey into the ancestral soul of jazz are pianist Micah Thomas, drummer Kweku Sumbry, bassist Ryoma Takenaga, and vocalists Ganavya, June McDoom, and Yaw Agyeman – all essential contributors to the lyrical machinery of the young composer from Pittsburgh, who here finds himself in a state of pure harmonic motion.
Ages 6 and up
Immanuel Wilkins – alto saxophone
Micah Thomas – piano
Ryoma Takenaga – double bass
Kweku Sumbry – drums
Yaw Agyeman – vocals
June McDoom – vocals
Ganavya – vocals