Ben LaMar Gay has a strikingly unique signature style he calls ‘Pan-American’, interweaving jazz and electronics with influences from blues, R&B, hip-hop ragga, Tropicália, and contemporary classical. With his own voice and cornet playing as a basis he builds up colorful productions that can sound radical on the one hand and warm and inviting on the other. On stage, this can develop in unpredictable ways, thanks to the close and intuitive collaboration with his band members.

At this moment, Ben LaMar Gay is one of the most prolific collaborators in the creative music community of Chicago. He is a member of AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), and he has played with, among others, Theaster Gates, Nicole Mitchell, Mike Reed, Matthew Lux, Joshua Abrams Natural Information Society, Damon Locks, Jaimie Branch, Makaya McCraven, Circuit des Yeux, and Bitchin Bajas. On his recent album Open Arms to Open Us he collaborates with kindred spirits such as OHMME, Tomeka Reid, and Angel Bat Dawid.

For this concert, Dutch pianist Oscar Jan Hoogland will join the stage, indicative of the many collaborations that the Chicago and Amsterdam improv scenes have engaged in for years.

Ben LaMar Gay cornet/synth/vocals, Will Faber guitar/vocals, Matt Davis sousaphone/vocals, Tommaso Moretti drums, Oscar Jan Hoogland piano/electric clavichord