Sax Player and Bandleader Lakecia Benjamin Imagines What's Possible

Soundcheck | Jan 13, 2025

Sax player, MC, and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin grew up playing salsa and merengue in Washington Heights. She counts jazz greats Terri Lyne Carrington, Gary Bartz, and Clark Terry among her mentors; and her list of collaborators includes Missy Elliott, Stevie Wonder, Lil Wayne, Dianne Reeves, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Brandee Younger, and Jazzmeia Horn. Benjamin is primarily known as a jazz musician, although as you might imagine she takes a pretty wide-angled view of jazz. Her latest record, the Grammy-nominated Phoenix Reimagined, is a live reworking of her 2023 album Phoenix, which earned three Grammy nominations. Sax player Lakecia Benjamin and her band play some of her latest tunes, in-studio.

1. Trane 2. Let Go 3. Mercy

<a href="https://lakeciabenjamin.bandcamp.com/album/phoenix-reimagined-live" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Phoenix Reimagined (Live) by Lakecia Benjamin</a>

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

WNYC Homepage - Top Stories

From NYCHA to the Garden, the Knicks' Jose Alvarado is living a New Yorker's dream

Perhaps no player sends a clearer message to New York kids that making it to the NBA is achievable.

Gothamist |

A Memoir on Growing up in Gowanus, Before the Whole Foods

All Of It with Alison Stewart |

Bill Bradley on Knicks Fever and More

Bill Bradley talks about this year's NBA finals, reflects on his own championship season, and more.

The Brian Lehrer Show |

I.C.E.'s "Wartime Recruitment" Campaign

Hiring at the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency.

On the Media |