"Imani Winds has made this unlikely amalgam work through a combination of great performance chops, charismatic stage presence, fascinating projects, and a selection of repertoire that both calls attention to each of their personal strengths and pushes them to other places."

"Terra Incognita suggest that jazz and concert music can still blend into a hybridized form of music containing considerable eloquence."

"Throughout the CD, the Imani are an impressively virtuosic quintet, faultless in ensemble, winning in tone quality and fully capable of every challenge the three composers have thrown at them. The recording is remarkable for its clarity and warmth." Read More...

"...the success of the project can be seen in the extent to which the music regularly defies expectations, and in that regard, Terra Incognita is a place I think you'll enjoy getting to know."

"Each composer's influence is clear and, while you can listen to this in the car or on the 'pod, for the initial hearing, give yourself a block of time to savor it. You will continue to hear more and more in it, and you owe it to yourself to taste the flavors of this music in a fine and quiet place."

"In their 14-year existence, the Imani Winds have turned the woodwind quintet genre on its head. They've expanded the horizons and repertoire well beyond the strictly classical. But they're not really a crossover group. They're all classically trained musicians who also happen to be well versed in other styles of playing. They quite simply can do it all and they do it well and with an enthusiasm that is infectious." Read More...

"... the nation's leading wind ensemble ..."

"It's a bit startling to hear, at the beginning of an Imani concert, that aggressive, powerful, and crisp sound. Imani plays with a kind of dead-on precise coordination that takes a while to get used to. (This is not a complaint!)"

"Imani Winds is known for colorful and innovative programming, and Spellman-Diaz said members spend many days talking over programming choices. The progression of a delicious meal is a metaphor for a typical Imani concert, and Spellman-Diaz gave some tempting hints about what's on the menu in Park City this week. The appetizer is a scherzo-like piece by in-house composer Coleman, 'Red Clay Mississippi Delta.'" Read More...

"The group's overall sound is smooth and suave, conceptually rich, with spiky attacks, spicy flavors, and a perpetually sinuous rhythmic momentum. Formed in 1997 by graduates of Juilliard and Mannes, Imani has honed a fresh, iconoclastic edge for their quintet. Working, touring, and teaching full-time, their attitude of loose, cheery professionalism is more in tune with jazz groups or rock bands than ‘chamber ensembles.'" Read More...

"Since debuting on disc in 2002 with Umoja and introducing compositions by Cuban multi-instrumentalist Paquita D'Rivera and Argentine tango and bandoneón to the classical world, the New York-based chamber wind ensemble Imani Winds has been predictable only for being unpredictable, and that's not going to change come August 24 when the group releases its sixth album, Terra Incognito."

"The group, Imani Winds, makes its second visit to Jordan Hall tonight as part of the Celebrity Series of Boston. After 13 years, it has evolved from being a side project into a thriving, full-time ensemble, one whose work ranges from the greatest hits of the wind repertoire to arrangements of songs by jazz singer Josephine Baker to music by Coleman and French horn player Jeff Scott. Its five members - all African-American or Latino - have taken one of the squarest ensembles in chamber music and made it into something vibrant, accessible, and fun." Read More...

"Imani Winds' perfect blend of their individual personalities, accomplishments, and sheer talent make them a very solid and charming group. It was wonderful to see a traditional chamber ensemble express such encouragement and exuberance for new music. I look forward to hearing the results of their commissioning projects in the future, which no doubt will be masterfully played." Read More...

"When it comes to chamber music, woodwind ensembles are relatively rare. New York's Imani Winds are taking things even further than you might expect." Read More...

"The Legacy Commissioning Project is more than just a vehicle for the group to celebrate its first decade, Ellis said. 'It's a way to increase the woodwind literature and repertoire.' And they've approached composers from a wide range of musical backgrounds, not just classical. 'We're looking for different genres and backgrounds, everything from jazz to classical. We definitely want to keep things diverse in respect to musical areas and composers.'" Read More...

"Imani Winds gave a spectacular performance, and the audience responded with enthusiasm." Read More...

"Occasionally one attends a performance where the the musicianship is of such high caliber, the selections are so varied and engrossing, and the personality of the performers is so engaging that the feeling of it lingers long afterward, like the faint ghost of a warmly remembered dream. The concert by the acclaimed Imani Winds on Saturday night, February 20th in the Kaul Auditorium at Portland's Reed College, was just such an event." Read More...

"Together for 13 years, Imani has found a formula that engages audiences while advancing the literature for wind quintet. And their playing was superb. Each performer brought distinct personality to his or her instrument." Read More...

"Imani Winds are doing their bit for the wind quintet, an ensemble of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn. Its Legacy Commissioning Project is an ambitious five-year venture to commission 10 works by composers in classical music, jazz, Middle Eastern, Latin and broader styles." Read More...

"'The thing with a wind quintet is it's almost a blank palette,' Scott said. 'We don't have anything by Brahms or Beethoven to pick from.' ... But the blank palette is something the ensemble has embraced, he said. Scott and Coleman compose much of the group's music. Read More...

"This extended piece, comprising the whole of the second set found the composer doing lightning rounds on vibes and marimba while Imani engaged in a near-furious excursion into arch melody as well as sweet songlines."

"The score crosses the line between jazz and classical, allowing for improvisation on the part of the quintet and Harris. Each performance is a new experience, Adam said. 'You never really have a complete interpretation,' she said."

Read More...

"Intensity, velocity. When Imani Winds blow into town, you can expect both." Read More...

"Having braced myself for a rattling junk drawer of mismatched timbres, I felt my body relax the moment the Imanis launched into their first piece on the program, Scherzo for Woodwind Quintet by Eugene Bozza. The piece relays a Flight of the Bumblebee-style melody from each member of the ensemble to the next in turn, but the sounds of the instruments were so well matched that the handoffs were nearly indistinguishable." Read More...

"Virtuosity wasn't the point, though anyone who has struggled with a balky double-reed or a treacherous high horn passage had to marvel at this group's technique." Read More...

"They [Imani Winds] created a dazzling landscape of color, and it came from the inside out." Read More...

"Imani Winds, a wind quintet whose stylish grace and charm match the high quality of sound produced from their instruments, hold a substantial pedigree among fellow artists, audiences, and critics alike." Read More...

"Founded in 1997 by flutist-composer Valerie Coleman, Imani has swept away old notions about wind quintet repertoire, which is often seen as an afterthought in chamber music. By forging relationships with contemporary composers and arranging material by an international array of artists, the New York ensemble has put the wind quintet in the center of the action. And by focusing on African-American and Latin American composers, the Imani musicians have bonded with a sense of mission, giving the group the staying power to establish an enviable body of original material." Read More...

"The little wind quintet that could." Read More...

"Imani Winds decided some time ago to make their tenth anniversary special, by commissioning ten new works from ten very different composers of color. Titled the Legacy Project, each new work not only gets premiered, but added to Imani's rolling repertory as they perform across the country and beyond." Read More...

"It's a good thing when you leave a performance wanting to hear it all over again. Friday night, many likely left the Imani Winds' concert with Stefon Harris needing to hear it again." Read More...

"At first glance, the pairing of jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris and woodwind quintet Imani Winds might seem a little odd.

"After all, what can a jazz great know about classical music and vice versa?

"Apparently, a lot."

Read More...

"With all due respect to the entire history of classical woodwind music, rarely does someone utter phrases like 'lit a fire' or 'scary' or 'stretched to the edge of our imagination' when discussing it.

"That, then, is the first indication that Friday’s concert featuring Imani Winds and Stefon Harris will not be your typical night of polite chamber music."

Read More...

“'We’ve been working with all these people who have been encouraging us to do some improv, but Stefon was the first to teach us,' Spellman-Diaz says. 'He wrote into the music how we should improvise in rehearsal. He has a whole method for teaching us. … He’s laid out a structure that’s easy theatrically for us to improvise over.'" Read More...

"Expanding the quintet repertoire has been Imani's goal from the start, because as Ms. Adam explains, 'a chief misconception about wind quintets is that they play a handful of pieces all the time.' To address this, Imani established its five-year Legacy Commissioning Project in 2007. Through 2011, the group is commissioning new works from established and emerging composers of color, including Alvin Singleton, Roberto Sierra, Jason Moran, Stefon Harris, Mr. Scott, Mr. Shaheen, Tania León, Danilo Perez and Billy Childs." Read More...

"Advertising themselves as one of the few black woodwind quintets may have attracted a few of the interested to sold-out Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge on Saturday night, but it was Imani Winds' brilliant performances that earned them standing ovations." Read More...

"Enthusiastically received, it is hoped that Imani Winds will become a regular featured presence on the Community Concert Series calendar. Chamber Ensemble Wind Music has a new voice and it is wondrous in the extreme. Let's have them again, and again." Read More...

"Remarkably, when the wind quintet returned to the stage to join the band, the music remained as revelatory, the nine musicians melding together into a single entity with Shorter at the helm, directing the inventive arrangements of a trilogy of his compositions--'The Three Marias,' 'Prometheus Unbound' and 'Pegasus'--with a singular attentiveness to sound and silence that held the audience in spellbound rapture." Read More...

"This is the class act of the classical holiday CDs. It's refreshing to hear familiar carols and songs smartly arranged for wind quintet, along with bass, piano and percussion, from Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella to Let It Snow to the Donny Hathaway title song. Imani (which means 'faith' in Swahili) performs delightful renditions of Sleigh Ride and The Christmas Song. Grade: A" Read More...

"The Imani Winds is an outstanding Grammy-nominated 5-member woodwind ensemble (well, one IS a French horn, but they often hang out with woodwinds) that mixes all sorts of classical, jazz, and world influences into its program of Christmas standards on 'This Christmas.' The arrangements and playing of flutist Valerie Coleman, particularly on a gospel blues drenched Silent Night, were particularly tasty treats." Read More...

"This Christmas With Imani Winds, Imani Winds (Koch). This New York-based chamber ensemble breathe new life into Bring a Torch Jeannette Isabella, I Saw Three Ships and a dozen other seasonal favorites with brisk arrangements."

"At the show's close, Imani Winds returned to the stage for three, slightly less free-flow- ing compositions, and Shorter took a seat with them as the evening's dual worlds of classical and jazz met and merged. As the songs grew and roiled around him, Shorter smiled and leaned to share a laugh with the musician seated next to him, perhaps just happy to take in all he had set in motion." Read More...

"What started as a cool idea for a bunch of young musicians looking for work has matured into a second decade of making music together. And what a trip it's been for the woodwind quintet Imani Winds." Read More...

"They must have had loads of fun playing 'Jingle Bells,' with five winds bubbling away on founder Valerie Coleman's delightful arrangement. (You'll love the surprise ending.) ... Imani Winds' roots may be in classical music, but they've loosened up quite a bit in their years before the public." Read More...

"Christmas carols make wonderful vehicles for improvisation, and the Imani Winds play the daylights out of them." Read More...

"The spirited, jazzy performances that result should prove appealing to almost any taste." Read More...

"Imani Winds brings a funky grace to everything it does -- and the quintet does a lot. Over the past decade, the Imani has not only played vintage European repertoire and contemporary American compositions with pizzazz, the group has ventured into Latin fare and collaborated with jazz titan Wayne Shorter. 'This Christmas' is emblematic of the Imani's appeal: The album is as playful as it is virtuosic, as soulful as it is sweet." Read More...

"For the final segment of the concert, the Imani Winds joined the quartet, forcing an added degree of structure. The ensemble was restricted to steady pulses and defined sections for the sake of the wind players, who were reading parts. However, the timbral richness that resulted made up for whatever the quartet had to sacrifice. 'Pegasus' was the pinnacle performance of the evening. Beginning with a newly formulated rendering of the introduction to 'Witch Hunt,' a Shorter classic, the piece dove into an intensely improvised multi-paneled design, enhanced with woodwinds." Read More...

"Here's how things turned out for the best. Imani Winds appeared first, playing Heitor Villa-Lobos's 'Quinteto em Forma de Choros' and then a piece written by Mr. Shorter, 'Terra Incognita.' (Its world premiere was two years ago, at the La Jolla Music Society's Summerfest.) A bit longer than 10 minutes, it was concise and dynamic, with small openings for the players' individual expressions; it was polytonal and harmonically wide, and in stretches nearly every note fanned out into a chord" Read More...

"Imani -- composed of flutist Valerie Coleman, oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz, clarinetist Mariam Adam, French hornist Jeff Scott and bassoonist Monica Ellis -- began the concert with a crisp reading of 'Quinttete en Forme de Choros' by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Then it tackled Shorter's 'Terra Incognita,' written for Imani in 2006 and here given its New York premiere." Read More...

"The wit and inventiveness of these versions would be reason enough to recommend this album, but the ensemble plays with extraordinary virtuosity, and the listener is as often astounded by the remarkable performances as by the wonderfully wacky arrangements themselves. The sound is clean and present. This isn't necessarily an album you'd choose for background music, but for the adventurous listener looking for a highly sophisticated, jazzy take on traditional holiday music, This Christmas with Imani Winds could be just the thing." Read More...

"'They've been pushing the window in the classical world, oh, man, have you heard them?' Shorter asks in an interview from his home in West Hollywood, Calif. 'They transcribe and arrange other classical pieces, like a piano work. And when they have to breathe, they daisy-chain, make it seamless, one grabs on as another lets go.'" Read More...

"Two groups with like-minded ideals visited Stanford University last week. Imani Winds and Miami String Quartet compelled their modest-sized audience in Dinkelspiel Auditorium to join them on a spirited and inspired, if unfamiliar, musical journey. From the first to the last sounding notes both ensembles played brilliantly, with vigor, dedication, and flair. The caliber of musicianship was only part of the remarkable artistic parcel on display Wednesday night. Most impressive was the collective grace emanating from the players from the moment they walked on stage, which then lingered in the hall, like warmth, well after the concert's end." Read More...

"In 'Afro,' the jaunty first movement of the sultry Concerto for Wind Quintet by Valerie Coleman, the music evokes Afro-Cuban song and percussion with wailing melodies that dance over ostinato patterns for horn and bassoon. This vibrant work illustrates several of the aims of Imani Winds, the woodwind quintet Ms. Coleman founded in 1997, which include expanding the limited repertory for woodwind quintet and exploring non-European traditions."
Read More...

"I richly enjoyed exploring every cut on this album. On a cold, windy November morning in Minnesota, This Christmas made for a more-than-satisfying companion. I applaud Imani Winds and will definitely check out their other recordings. This is an intensely talented group that will be entertaining my family during the holiday season for many years to come!" Read More...

"It's been said that chamber music is a conversation among equals. Thursday's concert of the Imani Winds and the Miami String Quartet was a musical conversation of the highest caliber." Read More...

"The Miami String Quartet and Imani Winds will join forces for a single night's performance on Thursday at the Gunter Theatre.

Innovation is the middle name of the two virtuoso ensembles, recognized by both fans and critics as exciting travelers in the new, transcendent 21st century soundscape." Read More...

"Imani Winds encompasses a world a good deal larger than anyone might expect from a mere woodwind quintet. Its general sound is large, and its vocabulary of particular sounds is expansive, with a French hornist pecking out dull, pitchless percussive thuds as easily as he belts out a good ripping melody, and an oboist who regularly melds notes where others might see unmalleable steel." Read More...

"Imani Winds has proven itself to be more than a wind quintet - more like a force of nature." Read More...

"'This will not be your typical Mozart, Bach or Beethoven concert,' said French horn player Jeff Scott. 'Many in the audience will hear music they haven't heard in a chamber music setting.'" Read More...

"With the arrival of Imani Winds, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and brass came into lustrous play. The group excelled at highlighting the rich lyricism found in Shorter's songbook, as well as its soulful depth. The performances of 'Night Dreamer,' 'Terra Incognita' and 'Prometheus Unbound' (an impassioned showcase for Shorter's soprano) capped the concert in delightful ways, sublime and stirring by turns." Read More...

"He brings that tremendous spirit to Hill Auditorium on Saturday for a show presented by the University Musical Society. The Imani Winds will open the show, then Shorter and his Quartet will do the headlining set, and then the two groups will join forces for a set that will likely leave no jazz subgenre unexplored." Read More...

"At the first rehearsal we played the entire piece top-to-bottom," says Adam. "He said, 'That's cool. Now, you don't have to play it start-to-finish. You can start there or there, and you don't have to play that part at all. Whatever you want to make it.' Our mouths were hanging open." Read More...

"Joined once again by pianist Joel Fan, and by bassoonist Gregory Quick, Imani impressed this critic with its incredible sense of pitch throughout all registers, its tightly knit ensemble work and a thoroughly absorbing interpretation of Martinu's joyful score." Read More...

"Imani and Fan took command from the opening of the first movement, with its spirited and feisty rhythms. The fearless, take-no-prisoners tempo of the finale gave the crowds about all the excitement they could handle for one evening, leading to thunderous applause, shouts of approval and unabashed foot-stomping at its conclusion." Read More...

"When the Imani Winds joined later, a stronger aspect of organisation surfaced. Passages of improvisation were separated by arching arabesque melodies and coloured with nuanced harmonies in a thoroughly entrancing, vividly captivating artistic soundscape." Read More...

"So, in the way, the music gradually fragments in the way that it is played, yet it all sounded as a whole. That, of course, can be accomplished when it is played by two virtuoso ensembles, the Imani Winds and the Miami String Quartet. They displayed a wonderful way of transcending this difficult work and giving the audience an exciting journey into a new soundscape." Read More...

"Chamber Music Northwest rolled into its fifth and final week Monday with bracing performances by a younger generation of musicians. Veteran performers dominated the festival's early weeks, but Monday's lineup presented two relatively youthful groups, Imani Winds and the Miami String Quartet, in works by Leos Janacek, Roberto Sierra and Robert Schumann." Read More...

"Shorter, who turns 75 this summer, and his acoustic quartet were joined for the two pieces by the Imani Winds, a classical wind quintet with which the saxophonist has been collaborating. And there he was - 50 years after joining Maynard Ferguson's big band - seated alongside the five Imanis in his own little big band, joking with Imani flutist Valerie Coleman and clearly being inspired by the ensemble's high-spirited response to his compositions." Read More...

"Ellis's deep, reedy bassoon tone and Scott's warm horn anchored the ensemble's big sound, while their extroverted phrasing was equally fluent in avant-garde music. Czech-born Karel Husa's 'Five Poems' fashion stylized bird calls into often dense rhetoric; a common gesture, a slow buildup of intensity suddenly cut off, was invariably well paced. The Hungarian-born György Ligeti's 'Ten Pieces' are even more dramatically fraught, perched at extremes of volume, range, and technical possibility; if the group too-sharply outlined Ligeti's eerie clouds of dissonance, that steel edge was ideally suited to his more volatile outbursts. (Toyin Spellman-Diaz's skittering oboe in the sixth piece was especially deft.)" Read More...

"According to legend, the members of the Imani Winds quintet met 10 years ago in a rehearsal room in Manhattan and everything clicked instantly. It was magic. The music flowed instantly -- just like in the movies." Read More...

"Woodwind quintet music is often thought of as boring classical chamber music, but not if the Imani Winds have anything to do with it." Read More...

"Thursday at the Alys Stephens Center, these five New York musicians brought ebullience, originality, bright hues and playful rhythms to its Birmingham Chamber Music Society concert. More important, it proved that the wind quintet is a living, breathing mechanism with a global reach." Read More...

Weekly Pick for January 10. Read More...

"Call it eclectic, or crossover, or fusion if you must, but Imani's hornist Jeff Scott might disagree with any label you assign. 'It's all music,' he says. 'With a string quartet, it might be crossover, but with a wind quintet, you're starting with a blank palette. We're not crossing over from the norm, because there was no norm.'" Read More...

"But what's striking about Imani is that each player is polished and virtuosic. They took the first half of the program by themselves, giving elfin accounts of scherzos by Franck and Bozza. In an arrangement of Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin by horn legend Mason Jones, each player in the ensemble was a marvelously agile proxy for a full orchestra." Read More...

"Sure, Baker was a singular sensation, but Marie consistently does her justice on the delightful 'Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot!,' an evocative song cycle brimming with seminal jazz sounds and flirty cancan-inspired flourishes. Of course, Imani Winds brings its own distinctive slant to the project, deploying clarinet, bassoon, French horn, flute and oboe to celebrate Baker's audacious life and orchestrate 'Je Voudrais,' 'Donnez Moi La Main' and 'Don't Touch My Tomatoes.'" Read More...

"Imani Winds found the perfect muse in Josephine Baker." Read More...

"A blue- hued melancholy peeks out from the teasing fun at times, giving the album a depth that transcends nostalgic pastiche." Read More...

"That Imani Winds was not a typical chamber group was obvious from their first number..." Read More...

"The songs are a pure delight -- the singer and players perform them with abandon and loads of flair." Read More...

"If it's possible for a classically trained wind quintet to rock the house, Imani Winds blows the roof off." Read More...

"The Imani Winds --Valerie Coleman (flute, piccolo), Toyin Spellman-Diaz (oboe), Mariam Adam (clarinets), Monica Ellis (bassoon and soprano saxophone), Jeff Scott (French horn) and Joseph Tompkins (drums)--is an ebullient ensemble, and their giddiness among themselves and between the period pieces spilled over into the often-peppy polyphony of their music." Read More...

"Josephine Baker may have done her greatest work in Paris, but she looms large in the history of the Harlem Renaissance. The Imani Winds, a group of African-American and Latina wind players, pay tribute to her on her hundred-and-first birthday with music, dance, and film at the Apollo Theatre." Read More...

"Classical music has been stubbornly resistant to an increasingly multicultural world. Imani Winds represents nothing less than the future of the once-quaint notion of the wind quintet."

"The members, all in their 30s, have two exciting projects under way: Along with Paquito D'Rivera, they'll be part of the Apollo Theater debut of the multimedia work Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot on June 3 (Baker's 101st birthday). And they've begun commissioning 10 works to celebrate their 10th anniversary." Read More...

"You have to admire such a sprawling program, because in marketing terms, it could be a branding disaster. But so much about the Imani Winds has no precedent that its open-endedness is the brand." Read More...

"'Josephine Baker: A Life of le Jazz Hot!' at the Egyptian Theatre on Sunday was a welcome step toward an acknowledgment of the African American singer-dancer's legacy." Read More...

"Animated melodies were tossed from flute to oboe and clarinet, then back again. Lush harmonies were juxtaposed against darting filigrees and moments of bluesy lyricism, with each segment articulated in a uniquely Shorter-esque manner. The Imani Winds also gracefully executed some of the same pinpoint twists and turns as Shorter and his dazzling quartet did during their own Thursday night concert." Read More...

"Don't expect the Imani Winds to fade into the background.... The physicality of the group ... isn't mere histrionics. It's an outward manifestation of a passionate mode of expression that permeates every note."

"The playing glows with confidence, a spirit of freedom and the momentum of exciting musicmaking ... go hear this exciting group of performers who create a unique sound world and offer a startlingly original musical flavor."

"Imani Winds' publicity material refers to them as 'genre-busting.' There are some genres these days that need busting!" Read More...

"The Imani Winds have been together for a decade, but in the last few years the group and its unusual repertory approach have excited the chamber music world. For these players -- a few of whom are also composers and expert arrangers -- jazz, Latin music and various flavors of traditional world music deserve to rub elbows with standard concert fare. And since the number of truly great works for wind quintet is comparatively small, these imports are usually what make the ensemble's programs lively and attractive." Read More...

"Imani Winds seek to expand the boundaries of classical music. The wind quintet infuses its compositions with Latin American dance rhythms and black spirituals." Read More...