Ben LaMar Gay

Chicago cornetist Ben Lamar Gay ranks among the city's most daring and innovative musicians, shaping a sound that draws from avant-garde jazz, hip-hop, indie rock, Brazilian traditions, and experimental electronic composition. As an AACM member who also spent extended periods living and traveling in Brazil, he first surfaced in the 2000s as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Gay typically builds his recordings through extensive studio overdubbing, a method he employed on the Juba Dance project Orange. His restless creativity and broad stylistic reach surfaced again with the boldly imaginative Open Arms to Open Us in 2021.

Growing up on Chicago's South Side, Gay honed his cornet technique through involvement with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Under the Juba Dance name he issued the album Orange as a solo statement. He subsequently contributed to releases by an eclectic array of artists, including hip-hop performer Polyphonic the Verbose, jazz drummer Makaya McCraven, and alternative R&B singer Coultrain. Additional collaborations have linked him with Jaimie Branch, Theo Parrish, Celso Fonseca, and others. In 2018 Gay assembled previously unreleased material into his debut album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun, issued by International Anthem. The follow-up full-length Open Arms to Open Us appeared in November 2021 and included guest appearances by Angel Bat Dawid, Ohmme, Tomeka Reid, Tommaso Moretti, and additional musicians.