By the time the lone standard "What's New?" arrives with a wink, 11 tracks into trumpeter-composer Ambrose Akinmusire's tour de force Blue Note debut, When The Heart Emerges Glistening, the song's title has become a rhetorical question. Co-produced by Akinmusire and his label mate and mentor Jason Moran, the album's 12 songs (10 of which were composed by Akinmusire) feature the 28-year-old trumpeter's young quintet (tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Harish Raghavan, and drummer Justin Brown), a close-knit group of longtime friends and frequent collaborators that breathes a remarkable collective identity. The New York Times wrote that the quintet "seems destined for much wider recognition," and described their unique sound as "limber, straight-ahead jazz with mystery and pop instincts that gets around most of the old, pervasive mainstream influences, both of trumpet playing and bandleading."
"Akinmusire's forceful outing is as noteworthy for the strength of the overall concept as for the individual accomplishments of its leader, head-turning as they are. 4 stars."
-- DownBeat
"Limber, straight-ahead jazz with mystery and pop instincts that gets around most of the old, pervasive mainstream influences, both of trumpet playing and bandleading."
-- The New York Times
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