Artist: Kenya Wilkins
Title: New York Sessions
Label: self-produced
Genre: improvised music/jazz/ambient/poetry/spoken word

Buy here: http://www.keynawilkins.com/store/p18/The_New_York_Sessions_-_Keyna_Wilkins.html

An Album Review by Dawoud Kringle

In April 2023, the east coast of the United States received a visitor: Australian/British composer-musician Keyna Wilkins, who performed in New York for the first time.

Wilkins, MFM’s first member in Australia, is a pioneering and accomplished musician in the Australian music scene. She was one of the finalists for the Australian Art Music Awards for Individual Excellence in 2021 and 2018. Her major works include a triple flute concerto, a flute concerto, and a didgeridoo concerto, “Celestial Emu,” which she wrote in collaboration with didgeridoo soloist Gumaroy Newman, and was performed by The Metropolitan Orchestra in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, Wilkins collaborated with six refugees detained for 9 years by the Australian government via Zoom from their prison cells, victims of Australia’s mandatory detention laws.

The Australian Music Centre fully represents Wilkins and has five tunes in the Australian Jazz Realbook. She also presents workshops and lectures on her method of teaching improvisation for self-expression, performance confidence, and original composition at conferences and universities in Australia and the USA.

She has written over sixty pieces of art music, performed internationally and published by Wirripang. She has been featured on ABC and writes music for film and theatre. She has released ten albums of original music and performs regularly as an innovative soloist, improviser, and ensemble leader worldwide. Stylistically, her music blends impressionistic dream-like sequences, landscape depictions, existential spiritual quests, and a sense of the whimsical. Her passion for human rights, fascination with astronomy, Indigenous First Nations culture, dance forms, and intuitive improvisation permeate everything she does.

The music press has been singing her praises, and rightfully so. The Sydney Morning Herald described her music as “arresting, genre-blurring…disquieting music with massive breadth and high drama.” Limelight Magazine said she sounds like “Debussy, Miles Davis, and flamenco in equal parts.” Jazz Journal UK called her “a powerhouse player.”

During Wilkins’ April 2023 trip to New York, she led an ensemble of local New York musicians in a series of stream-of-consciousness recorded improvisation sessions. The musicians who joined her were Michael Kevin Walsh (keyboards), David Belmont (percussion & poetry), Kevin Kuhn (elec. guitar), Ron Wasserman (elec. bass), and SoSaLa (tenor and soprano saxes, vocals, and clapping). The sessions were arranged and facilitated by Musicians For Musicians and SoSaLa. The tracks were recorded by Michael Kevin Walsh at The Smooth Spot (NY), mixed by Michael Kevin Walsh and David Belmont, and mixed and mastered by Matt Stewart at A Sharp Studios Sydney. Yoko Kuroda and Yogahatti made the album artwork.

The album opens with “Random Thoughts on a Wrought Iron Railway.” Wasserman and Walsh provide a dreamy backdrop in D minor. Belmont trades his recitation with WWilkins’piano while SoSaLa and Kuhn lurk in the shadows, occasionally taking decisive moves to the forefront. WWilkins’ flute makes an appearance before the music begins bifurcating into abstraction. And just as suddenly, it coalesces into a modulation to B minor before disassembling into a stream of consciousness again. WWilkins’piano ties things together, and a groove draws the piece to its end on an E minor nine chord.

“132nd Street East” starts on an angular exploration of F major. WWilkins’piano pushes the momentum as SoSaLa and Kuhn trade a melody that somehow transforms into E minor. SoSaLa and Kuhn become more adventurous, while Wilkins and Wasserman hold things together, reinforcing what could quickly devolve into chaos. When the mood is solidified, SoSaLa steps forward with his trademark poetic saxophone work while Wilkins continues to direct and Kuhn KKuhn’s dances merrily and in reckless abandon.

“132nd Street West” seems to be a thematic continuation of the previous track. Here, the ensemble begins in the E minor tonality, occasionally flirting with A Major to add interesting flavor to the piece. At one point, she steps forward with a breathtakingly lovely flute solo while the others respectfully provide support and comment. The ensemble is soon inspired to explore all kinds of musical possibilities delightfully.

Wilkin’s statements in B minor open the next track, “Central Park at Dusk.” The others follow her lead, with Wasserman making the most outgoing responses. The B minor starts morphing into “out” tonalities, and with Wasserman establishing a groove, Wilkins returns to the piano while Kuhn and SoSaLa spare like two friendly martial artists demonstrating their skills. Soon, Wilkins and Belmont bring a mood to the piano and percussion work that would almost be a gospel jazz thing are it not for the diminished tonality. The rest of the ensemble adds unexpected ideas on top of it.

The album concludes with “Why.” ain,” and an F#, SoSaLa calls out in his trademark spoken work style while the ensemble adds sparse ornamentation. A brief pentatonic theme emerges, giving way to Wilkins on piano, Belmont’s percussion, Wasserman’s bass line, and Kuhn’s jagged guitar work. Kuhn steps to the forefront, briefly trading blows with Wasserman. Then Wilkins steps between them, making people as SoSaLa offers his unique interpretation of a blues melody. Eventually, Kuhn responds with aggressive blues melodies as the piece ends.

Like all the musicians in this session, Wilkin’s brilliance as an improviser is evident and indisputable. Every moment, a perfectly formed musical idea emerges from her piano or flute within an eloquence of emotional content. She has tapped into the Miles Davis technique of band leading by setting up an environment that enables musicians to find their voices within the context of the music at each moment. She leads these improvisations in a way that does not interfere with freedom of ideas. Yet simultaneously, she holds things together and directs the music without anyone being aware she is doing so. How the music emerges with Wilkins at the helm is as effortless as water seeking its level. Wilkins leads the improvisation with a subtle power that never overwhelms but is irresistible. Having shared the stage with her myself, I can attest to this.

New York Sessions is a rare event in music where a traveling maestra meets with master musicians from a foreign land and finds a common place to express that which only music can articulate. The meeting’s sadness and, I dare say, fragility was captured at the perfect moment. It is another jewel in WWilkins’ impressive catalog collection.

We in New York City were fortunate to have had her here.