Lakecia Benjamin

Lakecia Benjamin (alto saxophone) Taber Gable (piano) Ivan Taylor (double bass) EJ Strickland (drums) Already at a very young age, the virtuoso saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin appeared on stage in the company of jazz greats such as Clark Terry, Reggie Workman and Rashied Ali. Later on, she performed with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, The Roots, Anita Baker and Macy Gray, before starting her own career. Her energetic jazz style is packed with influences from funk, R&B and soul, and often comes with a social or political message (for instance on Rise up (2018)). In March 2020, the charismatic musician and bandleader released her third album Pursuance: The Coltranes (Ropeadope). The album pays homage to maestros Alice and John Coltrane and furthers their message of the improvisational artform. In their music, Benjamin finds a mystical, underlying spirituality that she incorporates into her album: "They wrote songs for Indian gods, for the god of Christians and Muslims. Their ideology was that all religions are one and that we are all one with God". Jazz brings us together, as she proves with this special album and for which she assembled an astonishing cross-generational ensemble of over 40 jazz heavyweights, including Reggie Workman, Ron Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Meshell Ndegeocello, Regina Carter, Bertha Hope, Last Poets, Greg Osby, Steve Wilson, John Benitez, Marc Cary, Marcus Gilmore, Keyon Harrold, Marcus Strickland, Brandee Younger, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Jazzmeia Horn. For her concert at Leuven Jazz 2022, she chooses a pure and dynamic quartet setting, composed of …