Lakecia Benjamin + Ben LaMar Gay + aftershow LũpaGangGang

In March 2020, right before the first corona lockdown, American saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin launched the album Pursuance: The Coltranes, a collection of compositions by Alice and John Coltrane. It was a homage to both jazz greats and a continuation of their message and style. Unfortunately, she had to cancel her Pursuance concert at Leuven Jazz 2022 at the last moment.
Therefore, we’re extremely pleased to reinvite her for the 2023 edition with her brand-new and highly anticipated album Phoenix, due out January 27 (on Whirlwind Recordings). The album was produced by the multi-Grammy-award winning Terri Lyne Carrington and features a star-studded lineup of specially curated guests: writer and activist Angela Davis and top musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Dianne Reeves, Patrice Rushen, Sonia Sanchez and Georgia Anne Muldrow. For this live gig, Benjamin will be joined by Zaccai Curtis on keys, drummer Enoch (EJ) Strickland and bassist Ivan Taylor. All of them were also part of her band on the new album.

In this double bill, you'll also cornettist Ben LaMar Gay, who is like a human kaleidoscope. As a multi-instrumentalist and singer, he blasts through musical boxes and is not averse to social engagement. This places him in the middle of the Chicago jazz renaissance. With his second album Open Arms to Open Us, you can hear influences from jazz to R&B and hip-hop and he seeks an answer to what he can leave behind for “the young people in his life” when it comes to “crumbling down social facades”. He finds the answer in rhythm, “the only authentic thing that travels great distances and survives everything.”

In the after-show, the young Belgian band LũpḁGangGang will present their debut album. Their fresh, innovative style brings together a wide range of influences (such as Kamaal Williams, The Breathing Effect, STUFF., Black Midi, etc.), and at the same time, they continue to build their own sound.