• Genre :: Jazz
• Listen :: Elite State of Mind
• View :: Band Website | Sean Higgin's MySpace
• download :: HiRes Image

Alvin Atkinson & The Sound Merchants integrate jazz and blues influences with inflections of rhythms and melodies from around the world. The group's mission is to exchange their spirit and music with audiences worldwide as literal merchants of sound.

Alvin Atkinson, Jr. (drums) has been balancing a career as a performer and an educator for over 15 years, playing alongside artists such as Houston Person, James Carter, and Cecil Bridgewater, among others. Atkinson has also performed at the White House for President George W. Bush and as the house drummer for the Emeril Live television show on the Food Network. He has toured domestically and internationally and has participated in U.S. State Department tours of Africa, South America, and the Middle East. He currently teaches Jazz Language and Rhythm Studies at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Middle School Jazz Academy. He also serves on the audition committee and the sophomore jury committee at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City.

Lakecia Benjamin (saxophone) is a multi-faceted saxophonist born and raised in New York City. Incorporating the musical styles of jazz, R&B and funk, she plays with various ensembles and has performed all over the world. A graduate of the renowned LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Benjamin has played with artists including Clark Terry, John Hicks, Joanne Brackeen, and Rachel Z., among others. She regularly participates in workshops and concerts at public schools and is involved in various community events through ArtsConnection and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Sean Higgins (piano) earned his B.M. in Jazz Performance at University of North Carolina at Wilmington and his master's degree at Northern Illinois University. In addition to touring with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program to the Middle East in 2007, Higgins has played at the 2006 Vail Jazz Festival, Shanghai Jazz and many New York City jazz clubs. He has shared the stage with Charles McPherson, Russell Malone and Wycliffe Gordon and is currently a member of the world-renowned Winard Harper Sextet, appearing on the groups’ latest CD, entitled Make It Happen. Higgins recently released The New Thought, his debut album.

Ameen Saleem (bass) began studying music at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in his hometown of Washington, D.C. After touring domestically and internationally with his school’s ensemble and the D.C. Youth Orchestra, Saleem continued his education at North Carolina Central. Over the course of his career he has played at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Carolina Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz a Vienne in France and Grady Tate Jazz Festival. In 2004 he toured South America under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. He currently performs and records with a wide range of talented musicians, including Jimmy Heath, Nicholas Payton, Lonnie Liston Smith, Gene Carne, Antonio Hart and Winard Harper.