This is an impressively rich record by a quintet which has substantially broadened its musical palette. Trumpet player and composer Ambrose Akinmusire returns with this new album, The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint, helped by guitarist Charles Altura of the OSSO String Quartet and singers Becca Stevens, Theo Bleckmann and Cold Specks. The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint makes good on the promise of, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, Akinmusire's last album, and his first for Blue Note, and which met with considerable success. On this new album, which he produced himself, Ambrose Akinmusire subtly develops his music by putting a little less emphasis on mind-boggling solos and a little more on the compositions themselves (he is the author of twelve of the album's thirteen tracks), although he always takes care to give his bandmates the space to express themselves and improvise. © PY/Qobuz