Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins drew much attention with his album “Omega” in 2020. Jazzwise magazine’s response to this album was with reference to an “avant swing and modalism”, with “thematic ideas rooted in past and present African- American experience.”. Wilkins himself during the Jazzwise ‘Album Interview’ called his music “channelling a bloodline.” Various vocalists are featured in different styles, for example, Ganavya (who has perfected her own style) on ‘Everything’ and spiritual/ gospel on opener ‘Matte Glaze’, with a brief hymnal intro by June McDoom before Micah Thomas’s sensitive piano and the drummers’ nuanced syncopations provide a foil for Wilkins’ subtle alto sax. Cecile McLoran Salvant, who has been attracting much attention herself, is another featured vocalist, on ‘Dark Eyes Smile’.
Despite being the leader, there is no sense in which Wilkins dominates the album, although his prowess as a saxophonist can be heard in the 8:40 of ‘Afterlife Resident Time’, where the piano also gets some time in the spotlight, and on the engaging if somewhat languorous ‘Moshpit’. The closing title track was, for me, the ‘tour de force’ with a slick running bassline and the substantive appearance of a distinctively toned guitar for the first time; an extravagant flourish of piano and some whirlwind drumming add to the drama; the second half slows things down and the album ends with a memorable gospel-tinged ballad.
While the short interludes, snatches of conversation, impressionistic sonic landscapes (as on ‘Apparitions’) and soundbites strengthened the idea of this conceptual work, I did find that the overuse of these disrupted the flow and continuity of the album somewhat.
“Blues Blood” is a reflective piece of musical history, but perhaps it is a little early to be drawing comparisons with jazz greats of the past. The killer compositions, riffs and melodies that symbolised the bop and post-bop eras are perhaps a little thin on the ground for that. Still, the potential is there and Immanuel Wilkins’ next album is eagerly awaited.
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