The 7th Hand (2022)

Brooklyn-based alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins mightily impressed critics with 2020's Omega. His wispy yet resonant tone revealed a wildly inventive soloist with an advanced compositional facility. Opener "Emanation" balances release and tension with harmonic inquiry through modernist post-bop. Played with intricate melodic invention and barely restrained energy, Wilkins' horn offers a plethora of harmonic ideas. "Don't Break" features the Farafina Kan Percussion Ensemble. The djembe drums employ chantlike rhythmic motifs, directly reflecting the evolution of the African diaspora as Wilkins and Thomas answer with the blues. The 7th Hand is a major work. It travels dazzlingly from tranquility and comfort to ambivalence, restlessness, and impatience before it engages re-entry, rebirth, and transcendence. This band understands that Wilkins' bold question may be unanswerable, but they play as if they know." (Allmusic)