Casey Benjamin, Ronnie Scott’s review — charismatic saxophonist blends jazz and hip-hop

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Casey Benjamin is the charismatic saxophonist, vocoder vocalist and occasional keytar player who once fronted the Robert Glasper Experiment band. As great as that band was live, I always wanted more of Benjamin’s acerbic and soulful alto sax. This gig, with French brothers Anthony and Davy Honnet on Hammond B3 organ and drums, put Benjamin’s sax centre stage.

“We gonna have some fun?” Benjamin asked the audience before hitting the ground running over spiky hi-hat and a funky organ pulse. His style combines the pithy lines of soul-blues alto sax with angular modernism and funk’s rhythmic finesse. Short stubby phrases, fattened by harmoniser effects, soon whipped up the crowd and long lines pushed at the edge of blues harmony. With the audience focused, a twisty unison theme emerged, supported by drummer Honnet’s bouncy New Orleans strut.

Those long sax lines are steeped in Benjamin’s deep jazz roots. Born in 1978, he grew up in Queens, New York. He started piano studies aged six, saxophone soon after and by the time he joined Glasper’s innovative band in 2004, he was already a seasoned jazz pro. He has fallen off the jazz radar of late, but remains busy behind the scenes in high-profile hip-hop and R&B — credits range from Nas and Mos Def to Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar. Hence the saxophonist’s sharpened sense of sound, focus on what’s effective and rhythmic punch. Twinned with the Honnet Brothers’ retro-flavoured oomph, he had the crowd rocking from the start.

That first number, written by the Honnet Brothers, gave order to a structured jam. And this is roughly how this first-house set played out. Themes were delivered with confidence, riffs skin-tight and beginnings and endings effectively nailed. But for the most part, the set spliced a showcase for Benjamin’s advanced jazz-meets-hip-hop saxophone aesthetic with the Honnet Brothers’ more retro skills. Thus Stevie Wonder’s “Bird of Beauty” was initiated by a sax and drum duet before the band eased into a samba.

“Dirty Rice”, a Benjamin original, ended with a showcase for the American’s fluid control of the EWI wind synthesiser — squeaky at first, but tumbling arpeggios soon impressed. Benjamin stayed on EWI for a cover of rapper Travis Scott’s “Antidote”, a rare foray into contemporary climes featuring dense organ voicings and sparse, atmospheric drums. Exciting stuff, but Benjamin’s original voice deserved more interactive fire.

The evening ended with the band stretching out long solos over nicely worked retro beats. “Bags’ Groove”, a blues written by Milt Jackson, was introduced as “a little shuffle”. Anthony Honnet’s grainy bass pedals locked into Davy Honnet’s urgent pulse and dramatic two-handed organ riffs gained power from sampled sustains. “Afrobit” was the final number, an odd mix of audience handclap, Afrobeat and soca. Benjamin quoted the late Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa”, worked the crowd with sudden stops and soloed soulfully on gadget-laden sax once more.

★★★☆☆

ronniescotts.co.uk