IMMANUEL WILKINS QUARTET

VILLAGE VANGUARD / MAY 13-18

When you have the kind of towering technique that Immanuel Wilkins has on the alto saxophone, you would expect him to unleash his own kind of “sheets of sound,” like this Philly homeboy John Coltrane. Thankfully, this young bull is more about vibrant and velvet melodic expression than velocity exercises, as evidenced by his 2024 album, Blues Blood (Blue Note), a moving and meditative recording of tantalizing tempos, diasporic downbeats and dreamtime sonic settings provided by vocalist Cecile McLorin-Salvant. A compelling young leader, seasoned by his sideman gigs with Jason Moran, Joel Ross, and Kenny Barron, Wilkins brings his quantum quartet - pianist (po9kand fellow Juilliard alum) Micah Thomas, bassist Ryoma Takanaga and drummer Kweku Sumbry - to the Village Vanguard, taking Johnny Hodges, Charlie Parker and  Steve Coleman to the stage with him.  E.H.