The 7th Hand

The 7th Hand
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 28, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-01-28)
StudioSear Sound, New York City[1]
Genre
Length58:46
LabelBlue Note
Immanuel Wilkins chronology
Omega
(2020)
The 7th Hand
(2022)

The 7th Hand is the second studio album by American jazz bandleader Immanuel Wilkins. It was released on January 28, 2022, under Blue Note Records.[4]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic87/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
PopMatters8/10[6]

The 7th Hand was met with acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 87, based on 4 reviews.[5] Giovanni Russonello writes in The New York Times, "The 7th Hand," Wilkins's newly released second album, confirms the quartet's commanding status on the scene. Another collection of all originals, it is just as unrelenting as "Omega." On tunes like "Don't Break" and "Shadow," Wilkins and Thomas play the melody in loosely locked unison, shifting in and out of keys, tilting and rocking the harmonic floor beneath them. Moving like this, Wilkins can switch emotional registers, even genres, with the flick of a wrist: A simple blues lick transposes into what sounds like a heart-tugging soul line, then scrambles up into something that's undeniably jazz"[2]

Thom Jurek from AllMusic writes "The 7th Hand is a major work. It travels dazzlingly from tranquility and comfort to ambivalence, restlessness, and impatience before it engages re-entry, rebirth, and transcendence. This band understands that Wilkins' bold question may be unanswerable, but they play as if they know. They commit to asking it with music-making as compelling and inspired as it is exploratory and dazzling."

Accolades

[edit]
Publications' year-end list appearances for The 7th Hand
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref
AllMusic AllMusic's Top Albums of 2022 NA [7]
The New York Times New York Times' Best Jazz Albums of 2022 #2 [8]
Jazzwise The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2022 #3 [9]
JazzTimes Top 40 Jazz Albums of 2022 #1 [10]

Track listing

[edit]
The 7th Hand track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Emanation"7:23
2."Don't Break"3:34
3."Fugitive Ritual, Selah"5:47
4."Shadow"4:44
5."Witness"3:38
6."Lighthouse"7:23
7."Lift"26:17

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Russonello, Giovanni (February 1, 2022). "On The 7th Hand, Immanuel Wilkins Sees Jazz as an Escape Pod". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Amorossi, A. D. (January 31, 2022). "Immanuel Wilkins Aims to Communicate the Spirit Within on The 7th Hand". Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  4. ^ "IMMANUEL WILKINS ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM "THE 7th HAND" OUT JAN. 28; LISTEN TO THE LEAD TRACK "EMANATION"". Blue Note Records. December 1, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Metacritc Review". Metacritic. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  6. ^ Layman, Will (March 18, 2022). "Immanuel Wilkins' Second Blue Note Release Is the Real "Spiritual Jazz"". PopMatters. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "AllMusic Best of 2022". AllMusic. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  8. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (December 7, 2022). "Best Jazz Albums of 2022". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  9. ^ "The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2023". Jazzwise. November 24, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  10. ^ "The 40 Albums of 2022". JazzTimes. December 19, 2022. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2024.