Ben LaMar Gay
Confetti In The Sky Like Fireworks (This Is bate bola OST)
Now Available
Ben LaMar Gay - Confetti In The sky like fireworks (this is bate bola oST)
What people Are Saying
“…An Album That Is Less About Fusing Jazz, Funk, And Other Genres Than It Is About Elevating The Diverse Sounds Of Earth To The Heavens.”
“There’s a palpable sense that Downtown Castles is true Americana, encompassing South and Central America as much as the US. In Gay’s music, the fluidity between the esoteric and catchy, the exotic and the familiar, is paramount.”
“Ben LaMar Gay’s music is full of wonder. It takes in the endearing glow of the natural world, plus the endless variety of man-made refractions, and then processes those beams and flickers into something strikingly original.”
“In Essence, This Jam-Packed Album Stirs Up The Vibrancy Of Life Itself. Downtown Castles Is A Bright Parade Of Humanity, Led By Gay As Its Dazzling Grand Marshal.”
“…A Compelling Series Of Vignettes, A Survey Of The Depth And Vitality Of Chicago’s Jazz And Improvisational Music Scenes…”
– Marty Garner, Aquarium Drunkard
“It Moves From Fuzz-Caked Weirdo-Psych To Mutant Synth-Funk To Giddy Electronics To Progressive Jazz At A Seamless, Whiplash-Free Warp Speed.”
Announcing IARCBB17: Ben LaMar Gay - Confetti In The Sky Like Fireworks (This Is Bate Bola OST)
Released March 15, 2019
Available digitally via our Bandcamp page
Though his 2018 International Anthem debut Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun brought him to wide renown for a prowess in producing cinematic music, Confetti In The Sky Like Fireworks is the first full introduction to Ben LaMar Gay as a film score composer. It is a collection of original music Gay created for ”This Is Bate Bola” – a short film directed by the Tribeca award-winning, UK/Brazil-based directorial duo of Ben Holman & Neirin Jones.
Vividly capturing the chaotic jubliee of Melhor Que Tem ('The Best There Is') and their battle to be the wildest, most vibrant, most beautiful crew over carnival weekend in Guadalupe, Rio de Janeiro, “This Is Bate Bola” illuminates an inner dimension of carnival that is often overlooked, misunderstood or dismissed by the Brazilian mainstream as violent or obscene.
Gay's score for the film features dense soundscapes that evoke an ultra slow motion immersion in Brazilian carnival at peak moments of elation, like frozen explosions of joy & color (evidencing the album's apt titling). Dotted with rhythmic vignettes and culminating in a mutant baile funk banger (featuring vocals by Flavio dos Prazeres, grandson of Samba legend Heitor dos Prazeres), Confetti In The Sky Like Fireworks stands as one of the most unique and impressive chapters of Ben LaMar Gay's previously-unreleased work.
Notes
Composed, Produced & Processed by Ben LaMar Gay.
Vocals on "A saída" by Flavio dos Prazeres.
Mastered by David Allen.
Cover Art by Ben Holman.
All rights reserved
About Ben LaMar Gay
Chicago cornetist Ben Lamar Gay is one of the city's most adventurous and boundary-pushing performers with sound that touches upon avant-garde jazz, hip-hop, indie rock, Brazilian traditions, and experimental electronic composition. A member of the AACM, Gay (who also spent time traveling and living in Brazil) emerged in the 2000s singing and playing a variety of instruments. Most often, he works in the studio, layering his songs with overdubbed parts, as he did on his own Juba Dance album Orange. Over the years, he has proven himself to be an unpredictable artist with a wide-ranging stylistic ear.
Raised on Chicago's South Side, Gay developed his cornet skills as a member of the respected AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). As a solo artist, he released the album Orange under the Juba Dance moniker. From there, he appeared on albums by a diverse range of artists from hip-hop performer Polyphonic the Verbose and jazz drummer Makaya McCraven to alternative R&B artist Coultrain. He has also collaborated with Jaimie Branch, Theo Parrish, Celso Fonseca, and others. In 2018, Gay collected a handful of his own unreleased tracks for his debut album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun, on International Anthem. ~ Matt Collar