Casey Benjamin — saxophonist, keyboard player and original Robert Glasper Experiment member — has died. He was 45.
The news was confirmed to HuffPost by the musician's management. No cause of death has been given.
In addition to being a close collaborator with Glasper, the two-time Grammy Award winner recorded with A Tribe Called Quest, Solange, Lupe Fiasco and more. Benjamin had also alluded to working with Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Arcade Fire, Lady Gaga, Nas and more in interviews, and toured with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump.
Benjamin was born in Queens's South Jamaica neighbourhood. After beginning to learn the saxophone at age eight, he went on to study music at Harlem School of the Arts and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art. He first collaborated with Glasper in the late '90s, then later joined the first iteration of the Robert Glasper Experiment in 2004.
Benjamin's Robert Glasper Experiment bandmate David Hodges paid tribute on Instagram, writing, "Can't get my words together at this moment but will echo a few of my last words to you: I'm thankful for you and love you always! Rest well, King."
Lupe Fiasco also eulogized Benjamin, whom he worked with on the 2012 track "Strange Fruition," calling the late artist a "masterpiece of a person."
