Lakecia Benjamin: Tiny Desk Concert

Alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin burst into her Tiny Desk Concert like a meteor breaching the atmosphere.

Benjamin approaches her music and performances with a take-no-prisoners attitude. After primarily performing as an accompanist, she introduced the world to her own voice. While her first two studio albums leaned into jazz-funk and soul, in 2020 she referenced her bebop and spiritual influences with Pursuance: The Coltranes, an album that brought together several generations of the genre’s luminaries to pay homage to John and Alice Coltrane. That project and her 2023 album, Phoenix, received critical acclaim, the latter earning her three Grammy nominations.