Gay,Ben Lamar Open Arms To Open Us CD

2021 release. It was produced and recorded at International Anthem Studios in Chicago between March and June of 2021. Across sixteen tracks Gay fluently interweaves jazz, blues, ballads, R&B, raga, new music, nursery rhyme, tropicalia, two-step, hip-hop and beyond in a beaming expression of his signature omni-genre "Pan-Americana" brew. Alongside his own sizable toolkit of instruments (cornet, keyboards, synthesizers, flutes, percussions), Gay surrounds himself with steady bandmates (including Tommaso Moretti on drums, Matthew Davis on tuba, and Rob Frye on woodwinds), while also shining the spotlight on female artists from his cast of regular collaborators. Featured artists on the album include: OHMME singers Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, bassist/vocalist/arranger Ayanna Woods, multi-disciplinary Rwandan artist Doroth?e Munyaneza, poet A. Martinez, cellist Tomeka Reid, and vocalists Onye Ozuzu, Gira Dahnee, and Angel Bat Dawid.

1. Sometimes I Forget How Summer Looks on You (Feat. Ohmme) 2. Hood Rich Happy 3. Bang Melodically Bang 4. Aunt Lola and the Quail 5. Mestre Candeia's Denim Hat 6. Oh Great Be the Lake 7. I Be Loving Me Some of You 8. Nyuzura (Feat. Doroth?e Munyaneza) 9. Slightly Before the Dawn 10. Lean Back. Try Igbo (Feat. Onye Ozuzu) 11. Dress Me in New Love 12. Touch. Don't Scroll (Feat. Ayanna Woods) 13. I Once Carried a Blossom (Feat. A. Martinez) 14. In Tongues and in Droves (Feat. Tomeka Reid) 15. S'phisticated Lady (Feat. Gira Dahnee and Angel Bat Dawid) 16. We Gon Win