IMMANUEL WILKINS TO RELEASE FIRST-EVER LIVE ALBUM IMMANUEL WILKINS QUARTET: LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD A SEARING 3-VOLUME DOCUMENT OF HIS ACCLAIMED QUARTET WITH MICAH THOMAS, RYOMA TAKENAGA & KWEKU SUMBRY
18 FEBRUARY 2026 (TORONTO, ON) — GRAMMY-nominated alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins has announced his first-ever live album, Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard, a searing 3-volume document of his acclaimed quartet in action at the hallowed NYC jazz shrine. Vol. 1 will be released March 20 on LP, CD, and digital formats followed by digital release of Vol. 2 on April 17 and Vol. 3 on May 15.
The album captures Wilkins’ quartet featuring Micah Thomas on piano, Ryoma Takenaga on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums taking flight on expansive explorations of Wilkins originals in a room steeped in jazz lore, adding his name to a list of jazz greats who have made seminal live recordings within these same walls. The album is introduced today with the quartet’s stirring performance of Alice Coltrane’s devotional composition “CHARANAM” from her 1981 recording Turiya Sings.
As Tina M. Campt writes in the album’s liner notes, the Village Vanguard “makes you feel the presence of so many performances that are still very much alive in the room. It is precisely this ambitious sono-spatial experiment that Wilkins takes on in this album: channeling the essence of a location that has witnessed numerous legendary performances. From John Coltrane to Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans to Elvin Jones, Dizzy Gillespie to Dexter Gordon (to name just a few), the Village Vanguard is a place where the sonic history of jazz dwells in the walls, floorboards, and ceiling. It is a venue many describe as holding cumulative layers of musical genius from decades of jazz performances.
“Live at the Village Vanguard is a bold endeavor to summon the Vanguard’s sonic history and make it audible,” continues Campt. “It harnesses this legacy and reactivates it as what he defines as practice – a practice of improvisational sounding, congregational listening, and devotional ritual.”
The track listing for Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live At The Village Vanguard is as follows:
Vol. 1
1. “WARRIORS”
2. “COMPOSITION II”
3. “CHARANAM”
4. “ETERNAL”
Vol. 2
1. “THE BIG COUNTRY”
2. “WAITING PT. 1”
3. “CITRINE”
4. “GRACE AND MERCY”
5. “GO ‘HEAD GET DOWN”
Vol. 3
1. “RING SHOUT”
2. “COMPOSITION IX”
3. “DOLLA$”
4. “PUT 100 ON THE BLUE CHAIN”
IMMANUEL WILKINS ON TOUR:
March 10 – Dakota – Minneapolis, MN
March 12 – Singletary Center – Lexington, KY
March 13 – Caffe Vivace – Cincinnati, OH
March 14 – Blue Llama – Ann Arbor, MI
March 19 – Pioneer Works – Brooklyn, NY
March 20 – Blue Note Jazz Club – Los Angeles, CA
March 21 – Blue Note Jazz Club – Los Angeles, CA
March 22 – Blue Note Jazz Club – Los Angeles, CA
March 23 – Athenaeum – La Jolla, CA
March 24 – Kuumbwa – Santa Cruz, CA
March 26 – SFJAZZ – San Francisco, CA
March 27 – SFJAZZ – San Francisco, CA
March 28 – SFJAZZ – San Francisco, CA
March 29 – Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society – Half Moon Bay, CA
March 31 – Dazzle – Denver, CO
April 1 – Musical Instrument Museum – Phoenix, AZ
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