5x GRAMMY® Nominee Lakecia Benjamin Earns Two GRAMMY® Nominations for Phoenix Reimagined (Live) (Ropeadope)
Lakecia Benjamin’s ‘Phoenix Reimagined (Live)’ is nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and “Phoenix Reimagined (Live)” is nominated for Best Jazz Performance at the 67th GRAMMY® Awards
Listen to Phoenix Reimagined (Live) here
“… this is jazz of the highest order, played with energy, intensity, and commitment – and beautifully recorded, delivering both the spontaneity and atmosphere of a live show with the crisp precision of a great studio session.” – Jazzwise
“…a joyous explosion that ushers you into her world, whether you’re ready or not.” – NPR Music
“Lakecia Benjamin looks like a superhero and plays like a flamethrower. She’s been tested in multiple ways already, and has come flying through.” – Stereogum
New York, NY – Saxophonist-composer-arranger Lakecia Benjamin has earned two GRAMMY® nominations for her new album Phoenix Reimagined (Live). Released this summer via Ropeadope, Phoenix Reimagined (Live) is nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, while the title track, “Phoenix Reimagined (Live)”, featuring Benjamin alongside jazz greats Randy Brecker, John Scofield, and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, is nominated for Best Jazz Performance.
The 67th GRAMMY® Awards will take place on February 2, 2025.
“It is a major honor to receive two GRAMMY® nominations this year. It is a dream come true and I am so grateful to all of those that have shown Phoenix Reimagined (Live) support. This proves that dreams really can come true and I am feeling incredibly blessed and thankful,” Benjamin reflected.
This marks her fourth and fifth career GRAMMY® nominations. One of the most nominated jazz artists of last year’s 66th GRAMMY Awards ®, Benjamin then garnered three nods in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Jazz Performance and Best Instrumental Composition categories for her universally praised smash Phoenix (2022, Whirlwind).
First announced on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and following her week-long stint sitting in with The Late Show Band, and released soon after her riveting NPR Tiny Desk Concert, Phoenix Reimagined (Live) focuses on the music from Phoenix and adds four new songs. Captured live-in-studio at Brooklyn’s the Bunker, this is Benjamin’s first live studio album, and transmits the electric energy the alto star has become known to convey during her fiery live performances.
Lakecia Benjamin has ascended as one of the most celebrated, high-flying stars on the contemporary jazz scene. Born and raised in Washington Heights, NYC, Benjamin is a musical tour-de-force with an eye-popping list of credits and collaborators including Stevie Wonder, Benjamin began playing with jazz figures like Clark Terry, Reggie Workman, Rashied Ali, Christian McBride, Gregory Porter and James “Blood” Ulmer. She has released three previous albums including Retox (2012, Motéma), and two others with Ropeadope, Rise Up (2018) and Pursuance (2020).
Benjamin’s thrice GRAMMY® nominated breakthrough album Phoenix capitulated her to the covers of DownBeat and Jazzwise Magazine, to the pages of The Guardian and the New York Times, and on to hundreds of stages all over the world. In addition to the GRAMMY® nominations, the album additionally received a prestigious NAACP Image Award nomination. She has spent most of 2024 on the road, touring throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, building a robust and engaged fanbase along the way.
##