Ben LaMar Gay

Ben LaMar Gay is a composer, singer, multi-instrumentalist and music educator from Chicago. While he frequently collaborates with jazz musicians (especially those with Chicago roots) and is himself a cornetist, his own output is not nearly so categorizable. Gay has absorbed various musical traditions of the Americas like a sponge and squeezes out drops of each to form partially blended collages. Also, unpredictable is the instrumentation used, but typically mixing electronic and acoustic and featuring plenty of percussion, but not just kits, congas and bongos. He often utilizes mallet instruments and higher register instruments like wood blocks to let the beat participate in the melody. When he sings, he uses a very distinct style that is almost like speak-singing but a bit too melodic for that label. Having made this description, it should be said that, even though it covers a big chunk of his work, it is not comprehensive and sampling his works is encouraged.