Lakecia Benjamin is one of the most dynamic saxophonists working today.
Her music draws from multiple traditions: the merengue and salsa she grew up hearing in Washington Heights, the jazz she discovered at LaGuardia High School and later studied at the New School, and the years she spent playing with artists like Stevie Wonder, Kool & The Gang and Prince.
Her latest album, We Dream, brings all of those influences together in a project that reaches across jazz, hip-hop, R&B and beyond.
When I spoke with Benjamin recently, I was reminded that her professional musical journey really began with a phone call when she was a teenager.
Lakecia came of age as a musician just as an older generation of band leaders was winding down, and she was tutored in the old-school way: by playing in bands and absorbing lessons directly from the masters.
As a teenager auditioning for LaGuardia, she was given a handful of jazz albums and told to listen. One of them was a Duke Ellington record.
She told me, "I put the Duke Ellington one on, and right away, the first solo is Clark Terry. I opened the liner notes and I was like, 'Oh, I'm in.' And it started like that for me."
A few years later, Clark Terry called her grandmother's house and invited her to audition for him. That led to her first tour, and launched her on the path that has led her around the world since that day.
Her new album is called We Dream, and if anyone can prove that dreams sometimes become reality, it’s Lakecia.
