{"id":18468,"date":"2021-12-30T17:59:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T17:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/castthedice.org\/?p=18468"},"modified":"2021-12-30T17:59:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T17:59:31","slug":"ben-lamar-gays-album-open-arms-to-open-us-out-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/castthedice.org\/?p=18468","title":{"rendered":"Ben LaMar Gay’s album Open Arms to Open Us<\/em> out now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Alejandro Ayala<\/p><\/div>\n

Open Arms to Open Us<\/em>, the outstanding and adventurous new album from musical polymath Ben LaMar Gay, slipped under our radar when it came out last month but we now have it firmly stuck in our ears and hearts. One of the year\u2019s standout records, Open Arms to Open Us<\/em> is an impressive feat with disparate stylistic dimensions. On his new album, the tremendously talented and versatile composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and poet runs the gamut from blues, jazz and R&B to Tropic\u00e1lia, hip-hop and eletronica, and everything in between, often within the same track.<\/p>\n

In adition to Tommaso Moretti on drums, Matthew Davis on tuba, and Rob Frye on woodwinds, Open Arms to Open Us<\/em> saw Gay enlist a cast of stellar collaborators, including OHMME singers Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, bassist\/vocalist\/arranger Ayanna Woods, multi-disciplinary Rwandan artist Doroth\u00e9e Munyaneza, poet A.Martinez, cellist Tomeka Reid, and vocalists Onye Ozuzu, Gira Dahnee, and Angel Bat Dawid.<\/p>\n

In an accompanying prologue written by him, Gay says the album “deals with rhythm as an inheritance of information \u2013 sort of like DNA or RNA. Coping with the present-day bombardment of data and recycled ideologies from sources essentially fed by the creed \u201cDestroy Them. Own the Earth\u201d often leaves me with only one thing to look forward to: Rhythm. More than anything, I\u2019d like my babies to always trust in rhythm. It\u2019s the one trueness that travels great distances and constantly survives the crumbling of facades.”<\/p>\n

He continues:<\/p>\n

“Open Arms to Open Us is full of rhythm or information that will assist my young folk in dealing with the repetition of things that aim to harm them or stunt their holistic progression. The title is a suggestion of a body movement that is used in many spiritual practices and is also a gesture that represents a type of understanding that leads to touch or a hug. The music is for dancing, reflecting, celebrating, bellowing, bawling, stimulation, focus and deciphering messages from loved ones here and beyond. It was the space in between the sound of my great grandfather\u2019s hammer that made me understand that, no matter what, We Gon Win.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For a taste of the out-of-the-box sound and far flung influences at play in the album, here’s the three marvelous singles that preceded its release, ‘Sometimes I Forget How Summer Looks On You (feat. Ohmme)’, ‘Aunt Lola and the Quail’ and ‘Oh Great Be The Lake’.<\/p>\n