An explosion of passion, love, and burning sound unfolded Friday, March 7, as saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin made her first appearance at The Jazz Showcase. A New York City native, Benjamin has toured all over the world but has only recently performed solo in Chicago as she made her first splash at the Chicago Jazz Festival in august of 2024 with a set for the ages.
Decked in gold and silver from head to horn Benjamin started the set with what she described as a song to check the sound and room and get the feel of the room. However, this song did not simply act to check levels, rather it seemed to foreshadow and introduce the screaming hot set that was about to light up The Showcase. Benjamin’s solo highlighted her unique sound and style of playing, one which combines sweltering chromatic lines and funk grooves all capped with a calling card trill to really bring the “umph” factor.
Continuing the set Benjamin took a moment to preach a beautiful message, one about celebrating love, joy, power, justice, dreams, life, and most importantly women in jazz. With such important sentiment at the forefront of this performance Benjamin dove into the first song from her latest album Phoenix (2023) entitled “Amerikkan Skin” which features the great activist Angela Davis. It is here in the set Benjamin truly made the performance her own with no comparison as she took to the mic to rap with the same vigor and message, never stumbling or skipping a beat. Promptly after, Benjamin dove into yet another enticing solo, using the horn to sing longer tones which glided across the top of the trio behind her before returning to the mic to close the song. With this song, Benjamin lit a fire inside the audience to recognizes the injustice faced by Black Americans and the overabundance of hate in America.
Next, Benjamin introduced another key factor of her set: audience involvement. She encouraged members to clap along with her next song and the whole set. Gospel bumping and funk derived, the next tune took infectious feel to another level with a bright, upbeat piano and keys solo from Oscar Perez that gave way to yet another killer solo from Benjamin. Following that tune, Benjamin took a minute to speak, showing great wit when interacting with a lively audience member and confessing that she is currently contemplating moving to the great city of Chicago.
Continuing, she gave a nod to the great John Coltrane and the quartet jumped into the tune “My Favorite Things.” It was during this tune that the energy of the show reached its maximum and never looked back. Benjamin delivered a solo in this song so virtuosic it was as if she harnessed the power of sun to shoot beams of light from her horn, an expression of sound so powerful that it could rip the roof off the Showcase. This, paired with Dorian Phelps monster performance on the drums, created a whirlwind rendition of “My Favorite Things” that truly honored the spirit of Coltrane.
Next, Benjamin gave space to showcase Dorian Phelps, a newer member of the group who just recently toured with Benjamin across Europe Phelps truly showed his power with an extremely technical and explosive two minutes of solo playing. From unaccompanied solo, Phelps transitioned straight into a strong Latin feel that set up a portion of the set that really showed Benjamin’s versatility as a player. Unique rhythmic qualities littered with her iconic trill carried throughout the tune, creating an amazing atmosphere as the set winded down. With so much energy in the room between the band and audience, Benjamin then took an extended cadenza. She touched upon near every corner of the horn from intimate passages to screaming calls in the upper altissimo stratosphere of the horn.
After this capstone in the performance, Benjamin again took to the mic to interact with the crowd, further developing a great connection between the audience and performer with jokes and beautiful sentiments about unity. Benjamin even brought up the one especially lively fan mentioned earlier, creating an impactful moment between the two as he encouraged her and her work in full even if he had been a bit over the top a times.
Finally, to end out the night Benjamin declared that they were going to go out with the “Funk Showcase” playing a tune that encapsulated the firey energy of the night as she started yet another clap for the song. The clap accompanied funk and gospel derived from Oscar Perez Benjamin, ending a stunning set of music love and power that truly spoke for itself. With a chance of Benjamin moving to the city of Chicago, this set may not be a rare occurrence. Stay on the look out for more shows from Benjamin, for every set she plays is an electrifying and transformative experience for listeners.