Lakecia Benjamin/Ambrose Akinmusire

Soft strings, sharp brass band two rising stars of modern jazz: the evening opens with saxophone shooting star Lakecia Benjamin. She has already appeared on stage with Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys. Her debut Retox offered an explosive mix of soul and funk. She then returned in 2023 with Phoenix which immediately brought her three Grammy nominations. In this album Benjamin analyses the resurrection of her home city of New York after the pandemic while also paying tribute to the American civil rights movement.  She uses her virtuosic technique to play around concepts and fragments, creating collages and producing tracks such as Coltrane and Basquiat that are amongst the best that contemporary jazz has to offer. In the second part of the evening, the American trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire thrills listeners with an intense mix of traditional jazz and experimental complexity: in Honey from a Winter’s Stone he establishes a particularly exciting sonic image together with a string quartet and the rap artist Kokayi. Exceptional, boundary-breaking talents coming together here in one amazing evening.

PROGRAM

PHOENIX
Lakecia Benjamin Altsaxophon, Michael King Piano, Elias Bailey Bass, Dorian Phelps Drums

HONEY FROM A WINTER STONE
Ambrose Akinmusire Trumpet, Kokayi Vocals, Chiquitamagic Synthesizer & Vocals, Sam Harris Piano, Justin Brown Drums, Mivos Quartet (Olivia de Prato, Maya Bernardo, Victor Lowrie Tafoya, Nathan Watts) String quartet