Ben LaMar Gay

Ben LaMar Gay is a Chicago-born and based cornetist, composer, and vocalist. His debut album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun, is actually a collection of greatest hits compiled from seven albums Gay recorded over the last seven years but never released. Gay chose to hone in on a sound that departs from jazz traditions and traverses a musical universe of funk playfulness, Brazilian rhythms, poetry and lyricism, and offers us the sonic fruits of collaborations with mutant funk trio Bottle Tree, jazz trumpeter Jaimie Branch and synth-loopers Bitchin Bajas.

intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/downtown-castles-can-never-block-the-sun

dArk mAAt'r

dArk mAAt'r’s combination of familiar and innovative elements inspires curiosity and intrigue in their listeners. Their brand of "Cosmic FreeDome Funk" represents a blending of samples, soundscapes & an electro/acoustic sound that flows into a tapistry of hipjazzsoulbopfunkhop. While they paint a picture of sound, audiences can explore and experience multi-layered musical depths. darkmaatr.bandcamp.com/