Although American saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin has been considered a major jazz talent for years, her career definitely gained momentum in 2020 through the album Pursuance: The Coltranes; praised for its refreshing approach to bebop and spiritual jazz. A terrible automobile accident, whereby she sustained several serious injuries, including a broken jaw, appeared to freeze the New Yorker's momentum for a spell, but she’s already back on stage, fueled, as she puts it, by ‘the energy of Coltrane's work’. It turned out that the trauma of rising from the symbolic ashes after the accident provided the creative nutrients for her latest album Phoenix (2023). Here, she guides listeners through this hectic and confusing period in her life, but also addresses social issues within American culture in a critical manner. Benjamin is a contemporary innovator in the spirit of her leading example Coltrane, who never shies away from any musical challenge, even when playing live.
