The sax player Immanuel Wilkins tells his stories, and his story, with the music he plays. It is an infectious engagement — an experience of listening that holds the listener as they travel the passages and phrases.
The depth of the messages is awesome. Like soundings where you need the guidance of his artistry to lead and spirit the imagination. There is spirituality in the mix, and it is more than an essence. It is three-dimensional. Soul-immersed. The dimensions are equally experienced by the listener and the player.
He’s a Philadelphian. A region of America that is rich with a legacy of healthy creativity and art-making incubation. The community-inspiring tenets of the Black Church are woven into the texture of Wilkins’s artistry. A weave as steeped in sub-Saharan and West African heritage as it is in the treasure that is African-American expression. It is all in the story of the music Immanuel Wilkins plays. Infectious in its engagement.