Lakecia Benjamin

It takes a flurry of words to describe Lakecia Benjamin: Saxophonist. Vocalist. Arranger. Composer. Educator. And her musical landscape is expansive, too, gracefully combining R&B, several strains of jazz, funk, and more — and all of it features the warm and resonant tone she conjures from her saxophone. That tone has earned her comparisons to the famed Johnny Hodges of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and illuminates her ability to bring the past and the future together in the present. Or as The New Yorker put it, “she’s a crafty traditionalist who remains in step with the rhythms of the younger generation.” 

In a 2023 feature in The New York Times, she revealed how her drive to be a musician arrived early. "Benjamin started her own journey in jazz, long a male-dominated form, when she told an art teacher at her elementary school that she wanted to play alto sax before she even knew what it was," the article revealed. "Actually getting her hands on the instrument involved persuading a classmate to switch from sax to art. 'I think I negotiated a couple Oreos or something,' Benjamin deadpanned." Her talent, as her Modlin appearance will affirm, is no joke.