Casey Benjamin (10/10/78 – 31/03/24)

Global audiences will remember saxophonist Casey Benjamin, who has died at the age of 45, as one of the key members of pianist Robert Glasper’s Experiment. With his crimson braids and lab tech glasses he was akin to super hip sci-fi character, but instead of wielding a ray gun, the horn player had a not so secret weapon in the shape of a vocoder. Along with a bank of effects and keyboard Benjamin used it to add to the decidedly futuristic slant of 2012’s Grammy winning and chart smashing Black Radio and 2013’s Black Radio 2, two epochal unions of neo-soul, hip-hop and jazz.

The explicitly synthetic sound Benjamin produced was in the lineage of Herbie Hancock’s disco-fusion heyday, and it gelled powerfully with Glasper’s material. That said, Benjamin’s alto sax, which would liberally crunch through waves of distortion, brought to mind another great innovator, Eddie Harris. Machine enhanced or not, Benjamin was a deeply soulful player who had the chops to sustain lengthy, climactic solos that added to the electricity levels of any group he appeared with.

And there were many. Born in Jamaica, New York and educated at the New School in Manhattan, the start of his association with Glasper, Benjamin also worked with jazz luminaries Roy Hargrove, Stefon Harris, Derrick Hodge, Victor Bailey and Kris Bowers. Yet Benjamin’s interest in soul, R&B and hip-hop also led to sessions with singers such as Bilal, John Legend and Mary J.Blige and rappers Q-Tip, Nas and Mos Def. The saxophonist leaves a C.V that is stylistically broad, as befits an open mind. 

For the most part Benjamin was the ubiquitous A-list sideman who moved like a free spirit through many areas of contemporary black music and built a reputation for high standards of performance regardless of the context in which he was heard. Having said that he also co-led with vocalist Nicky Guiland the funk-pop-rock group HEAVy, and the band’s 2021 EP Hand In Hand was a pleasingly off the wall affair that made clear how effectively Benjamin could channel his improvisatory skills into the kind of concise, taut, smartly constructed songs that were easy on the ear but by no means lacking in depth. Benjamin’s passing at such a young age leaves a question mark on what he could have gone on to achieve, yet his discography ensures a lasting legacy.