Immanuel Wilkins

Alto saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. After he graduated high school, Wilkins moved to New York City in 2015 to attend the Juilliard School. In the city, he met trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire, who mentored Wilkins and helped him navigate the jazz scene. He also met a musician who would change his professional life, prominent pianist and composer Jason Moran, who took the young saxophonist on tour. In what was one of Wilkins’s biggest gigs to date, he played alto saxophone in Moran’s In My Mind: Monk at Town Hall, 1959, a series of live performances honoring the great legacy of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. Wilkins has since worked with a diverse range of artists including Solange Knowles, Gretchen Parlato, Wynton Marsalis, Gerald Clayton, Aaron Parks, and Joel Ross, making a striking appearance on the vibraphonist’s 2019 Blue Note debut, KingMaker.