Biography
Immanuel Wilkins w/ Yaw Agyeman & Chris Dave is the credited collaboration on the track "IF THAT BLOOD RUNS EAST," the twelfth track of saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins' 2024 Blue Note album Blues Blood. Wilkins, born August 7, 1997, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (raised in Upper Darby), began on violin at age 3, piano at 4, and saxophone in third grade, training at the Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts before earning a place at The Juilliard School in 2015. There he studied under Bruce Williams, Steve Wilson, and Joe Temperley, and forged mentorships with Ambrose Akinmusire and Jason Moran — relationships that helped launch his Blue Note career. His first two albums, Omega (2020) and The 7th Hand (2022), both topped The New York Times year-end jazz lists, establishing him as one of the most important voices in contemporary jazz.
Blues Blood (2024), produced with Meshell Ndegeocello, marks the first time Wilkins incorporated vocalists on record. The album is a multimedia suite exploring ancestral lineage and Black cultural resilience, its title drawn from activist Daniel Hamm's 1964 courtroom statement. On "IF THAT BLOOD RUNS EAST," Chicago interdisciplinary artist and vocalist Yaw Agyeman — best known as lead voice for Theaster Gates' ensemble The Black Monks and whose work focuses on "language and sound as cultural currency" — delivers a performance reviewers described as "attenuated but informed by gospel and R&B." Legendary Houston drummer Chris Dave, dubbed "the most dangerous drummer alive" by ?uestlove of The Roots and known for session work spanning Adele's 21, D'Angelo's Black Messiah, and the Robert Glasper Experiment, anchors the track with his signature kinetic, genre-crossing approach.
The resulting sound has been described as resembling "Peter Gabriel performing jazz" — a fusion of spiritual jazz, gospel, R&B, and post-bop atmospherics compressed into just over three minutes. Though brief within the sweeping Blues Blood suite, the track distills the album's central thesis: that blues is, in Wilkins' words, "a technology of metamorphosis" and "a symbol of pleasure in pain." Blues Blood received a 2026 Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Wilkins also received a nomination for Best Jazz Performance for "Noble Rise."
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Fun Facts
- Immanuel Wilkins performed the national anthem before a Philadelphia Eagles game at approximately age 12, years before signing to Blue Note Records.
- The title Blues Blood references a 1964 courtroom statement by Daniel Hamm of the wrongfully accused Harlem Six — Wilkins substituted 'blues' for 'bruise' as a conceptual reframe, turning a wound into a form of cultural resilience.
- Live performances of Blues Blood included food being cooked onstage — chopping, boiling, and frying sounds amplified as a communal ritual — making the concert an immersive, multi-sensory experience.
- Chris Dave has played on Grammy-winning albums in three entirely different genres (jazz, R&B, and pop) within a single three-year window, and has session credits ranging from Adele and Ed Sheeran to Dolly Parton and Justin Bieber.
- Yaw Agyeman served as a Mellon Fellow researching the Stony Island Arts Bank archives in Chicago, creating a body of work called 'Dear Old Thing' that directly parallels Blues Blood's themes of ancestral documentation and cultural memory.
Musical Connections
Mentors/Influences
- Ambrose Akinmusire - Trumpeter and composer who mentored Immanuel Wilkins through the NYC jazz scene after they met at Juilliard [2015–present]
- Jason Moran - Pianist and composer who took Wilkins on tour and featured him in 'In My Mind: Monk at Town Hall, 1959' [2015–present]
- Bruce Williams - Saxophone instructor at The Juilliard School [2015–2019]
- Joe Temperley - Instructor at The Juilliard School [2015–2019]
Key Collaborators
- Meshell Ndegeocello - Co-producer of Blues Blood (2024)
- Cécile McLorin Salvant - Featured vocalist on 'DARK EYES SMILE' from Blues Blood
- Robert Glasper - Chris Dave is a core member of the Robert Glasper Experiment [2010s–present]
- Aaron Parks - Jazz pianist who has collaborated with Immanuel Wilkins [2020s]
- Theaster Gates - Artist/activist who leads The Black Monks ensemble, Yaw Agyeman's primary musical home [2010s–present]
- D'Angelo - Chris Dave performed on D'Angelo's Black Messiah and the subsequent world tour [2014–2016]
- Adele - Chris Dave was session drummer on Grammy-winning albums 21 and 30 [2011–2021]
- Kenny Garrett - Alto saxophonist who gave Chris Dave his jazz breakthrough [2000s]
- Wynton Marsalis - Trumpeter and bandleader Immanuel Wilkins has performed with [2010s–present]
Connection Network
External Links
References
Heard on WWOZ
Immanuel Wilkins w/Yaw Agyeman & Chris Dave has been played 1 time on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.