Photo: Joe Jones
There’s wonderful news from tremendously talented and versatile composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and poet Ben LaMar Gay, who has announced the release of a new album. Entitled Yowzers, the upcoming record follows two critically acclaimed and outstanding albums – 2018’s Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun and 2021’s Open Arms to Open Us. Described as a “joyfully irreverent psychedelic fantasia of folklore, free jazz, and avant-garde Blues”, the album remains as daring and inventive as ever.
Yowzers features Gay’s longstanding quartet – Tommaso Moretti (drums, percussion, voice), Matthew Davis (tuba, piano, bells, voice), and Will Faber (guitar, ngoni, bells, voice) – whose chemistry has been honed over years of playing together. “A big part of the language this quartet has developed is spatial,” says Gay. “It’s seeing and hearing it live. You’re dealing with a thing that is older than the industry that sells it, and if you’ve never experienced those bodies in a room, there can be a disconnect.”
The album was recorded live at Palisade Studios in Chicago, capturing the spontaneous energy of the quartet in the moment. Gay also composed and recorded additional pieces at International Anthem HQ, collaborating with engineer Dave Vettraino and enlisting the help of his bandmates, woodwind player Rob Frye, and a mini-choir comprising vocalists Ayanna Woods, Tramaine Parker, and Ugochi Nwaogwugwu.
We’ll have to wait until June 6th for Yowzers to be out through International Anthem but we can already hear the album’s title track, which serves as a powerful and poignant opener. Speaking about it, Gay comments:
“’Yowzers’ was a word and a sound that came to mind while observing the intersection of humor and horror in our present reality. On one side of a coin flip, “yowzers” is a deep sigh that quietly exits the body after facing the absurd. On the other side, it is a cry of amazement at how many secrets were left behind to help us endure and transcend the absurdity.”
Wrap your ears around ‘Yowzers’ now.
