The following is an interview between jazz journalist Morgan Enos and saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin. Benjamin just spent a week as a special guest with the Late Show Band on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where Colbert announced the release of her first-ever live album, Phoenix Reimagined – an offshoot of last year’s three-time GRAMMY-nominated album Phoenix. Links to pre-order the album, and to Benjamin’s website, can be found at the bottom of this article.
“Morgan, what am I allowed to say to you? What am I not?”
That’s how Lakecia Benjamin responded, with a laugh, when asked which irons she’s got in the fire. Clearly, she’s always got many, whether or not she can divulge the details.
Benjamin’s last album – 2023’s acclaimed, Terri Lyne Carrington-produced Phoenix – is fairly deep in the rearview mirror by now. It’s proven not to be a standalone offering, however, but a vehicle for new adventures: her intriguing new live album, Phoenix Reimagined, is out 12 July. At the outset of its promotional cycle, Benjamin’s had a week of whiplash successes.
She just got major exposure on national television, spending a week guesting with the Late Show Band (members of which she goes way back with), on Colbert. Rapidly afterwards, she performed a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR (publication TBD). Benjamin’s path hasn’t always been easy to say the least, which makes these victories even sweeter.
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Read on for an interview with Benjamin about all of the above.
UK Jazz News: What led to this crazy week, with Colbert and the Tiny Desk concert?
Lakecia Benjamin: I’m in Jacksonville now, for the Jacksonville Jazz Fest. This was the first thing on the calendar that we always needed to do. And then Tiny Desk came: “Would it be too much to do the day before?” I was like, “I don’t care if it’s hours before, we’re doing it.”
And then, out of nowhere, the Colbert gig came. So, the week came in backwards order for all the events.
UKJN: I imagine Colbert was fun, and a tad overwhelming.
LB: It was super overwhelming. First, shout out to Louis Cato, an amazing bandleader, amazing person. He used to play in my Soul Squad band for a year or so, when he first moved to New York.
[The Late Show band] is so high energy. So, I felt right away in my vibration, because the level that they’re coming toward is where I’m always starting. They were playing my songs and doing all these breakdowns with them. It vibed with the audience; Colbert was really into it. It just felt like such a high-level experience.
To be featured on a platform like that has never happened in my entire career. And I was completely surprised when he pulled my album out.
UKJN: Tell me about that moment.
LB: I didn’t know that it was a possibility. We were on the last night and I was pretty much focused on the music, looking at the sheet of paper for the next cue. I had never seen the album cover so big – when it came out, I was like, Oh my god.
UKJN: You were in the clutch. You had to say something.
LB: I was completely, authentically super surprised. Super humbled. Super grateful for him to even consider me, and to have a jazz record on national TV – I was blown away.
Stephen Colbert is probably the only person in history that caught me off guard. You can tell he really loves music, and loves what he does.
UKJN: Was it a whole different ball game, relying on TV studio cues and the like?
LB: No. Fortunately in my pop experience, and other genres, I’m familiar with in-ears and I’m familiar with the talkback mic. I played the American Comedy Awards, I played the BET Awards, I played the Essence Awards.
I didn’t have to second guess the body pack, the makeup and wardrobe. That’s like my normal. There’s a whole part of me that just knows exactly what to do there.
UKJN: Can you talk about the material the band played over those four nights?
LB: Besides some of my songs, we did some Jimi Hendrix, and we did some of Louis’s original things – of course, a New Orleans thing. They have an awesome, killing theme song. Each one of those musicians is a top-notch professional.
They were welcoming and warm to me. There were no egos or anything involved. It was all about the music.
UKJN: Let’s talk about the album itself, Phoenix Reimagined.
LB: Shortly after the GRAMMYs, I was thinking to myself, Well, now what do we do? We had tons of tour dates – just touring, touring, touring. And I just felt that when we play live, the music of Phoenix is completely different than when people buy the CD.
We’re also in a different, transitional period. We had all this stuff happening in 2023 – all these accolades, all these new things – and now we’re in a new space.
I have a list at my house of people I want to work with – a bucket list. I thought, Let me call the people on this list and see who’s in New York. And they were around.
UKJN: It’s great that Phoenix can be a launchpad for further explorations.
LB: Yeah, it felt like a gateway. When I called [Jeff] Tain [Watts, drummer], I was like, “I just want to be challenged to play better. I don’t want to get comfortable.” These guys are the real deal. The life that I’m trying to live, they have lived it and beyond.
It also gave the band a second to play something new. Instead of being focused on what we can gain, and what kind of award we’re going to get, we’re just focused on having fun with the music and enjoying this era we’re in.
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Categories: Features/Interviews, Mondays with Morgan
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