RISING JAZZ STAR COMING TO THE MERIDIAN ARTS CENTRE NORTH

Lakecia Benjamin'd Sax Schooling Toronto  

Stand back. Don't sit down; Lakecia Benjamin will blow you out of your seat anyway. Jazz fans in the city have wanted to see and hear her since 2012 when she burst onto the world stage with her saxophone with the release of her first album, "Retox". 

She has been in this country only a few times, playing backup alto sax for some of America's top performers, including Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys. But next Friday, she will take to the Meridian Arts Centre North stage, and it will be her music, her hip look, and her own band for the very first time on a Canadian stage.

Although she wasn't sure which country the Caribbean Camera was calling from when we reached her at her home in NYC last week, she was excited to talk about her upcoming tour, which includes stops in Turkey, Germany, Norway, and this single Canadian performance, making for a busy fall schedule. She told us she was up for all the gigs that she will be playing in North America, Europe, and Asia.

“I don't really have a set plan on any given night. If the hall says to play a non-stop 90-minute show, we do it. If they want an intermission, that's how it is,” she said. And in Toronto? “I just want to play!”

The evening will feature works from her recent album, "Phoenix" (which is also the name of her quartet). "We live to interact with the audience. We want to see them jumping up; we want to hear them too. You haven't seen a New York audience; let's see what Toronto can do," she said. "I love to hear an excited crowd. And inmany ways (her concerts) are congregational.”

At 41 years old, Lakecia Benjamin has a sound rooted in tradition while incorporating R&B, funk, hip-hop, dance, and Latin influences. This fiery sax player is an exciting new jazz voice that pays tribute to the greats who came before her.

Benjamin was born and raised in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in New York City. In grade school, she studied the recorder. She attended Eleanor Roosevelt Junior High School in New York City. She has been writing songs and lyrics since the age of 13. She began playing the saxophone in elementary school. Her beginnings in music were in Latin dance music, playing salsa and merengue. Nowadays, it is a jazzy mash-up of all that, with a bit of reggae thrown in for good measure.