First announced on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and following her week-long stint sitting in with The Late Show Band, 3x GRAMMY nominated star alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin returns with her first-ever live studio album, Phoenix Reimagined (Live), due out via Ropeadope on July 12, 2024 which features among other guitarist John Scofield, trumpeter Randy Brecker and drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts on the title track.

The success of her most recent releases, 2023’s Phoenix and 2020’s Pursuance: The Coltranes, positioned Benjamin among jazz’s most celebrated recording artists: In addition to absolute raves in outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian and DownBeat, she received three Grammy nominations for Phoenix, as well as an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Jazz Album.

“Phoenix” is a double metaphor. Lakecia Benjamin refers to the New York City she grew up in and watched slowly die during the pandemic and then come back to life. But it is also a personal reference to the death which she miraculously escapes from in the Fall of 2021 following a serious car accident. This new opus is also an opportunity to highlight her own compositions as well as the creativity, talent and commitment of the female artists she surrounds herself with. “Phoenix” marks yet another stratospheric rise for an artist who resolutely knows what she wants to say and how to say it, all the while honoring her mentors and the traditions that have come before her.