Ben LaMar Gay
Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun
(IA11 Edition)
Just Announced!
Announcing IARC0017LP11
Ben LaMar Gay
Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun
(IA11 Edition)
Out March 28, 2025
Available digitally via our Bandcamp page
Ben LaMar Gay’s de facto debut album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun, was our attempt to introduce the legendary Chicago composer / improviser / renaissance man to the rest of the world with a compilation of tracks from 7 albums he made over 7 years (though he hadn’t yet made the effort to actually release). The material showcases Gay’s penchant for genre-hopping – from Steve Reich-ian soundscape voyages to Don Cherry-esque polyrhythm treks to Jorge Ben-style vocal-and-string earworms – while keeping his singular musical voice in focus.
In the years since its release, this long OOP collection has become a touchstone, foreshadowing the breadth and scope of Gay’s output since. The songs-between-the-songs warped Soul Americana madness and beauty of Open Arms To Open Us, the unhinged long form freedom of Certain Reveries – each fresh mode would defy expectation if without the context established by Downtown Castles. To quote our OG announcement of the album: “to call it ‘eclectic’ would only scratch the surface. This music is everything.”
The IA11 Edition of this LP comes with an IARC2025 obi strip plus a 4-page insert booklet featuring new (old) photos and new liner notes by musician (and longtime BLG friend/collaborator) Gira Dahnee.
Notes
Compiled & Sequenced by Scott McNiece & Ben LaMar Gay.
Mastered by David Allen.
Cover Art & Photos by Maren Celest.
IA11 Liner Notes by Gira Dahnee.
Original Layout by Craig Hansen.
IA11 Layout by Aaron Lowell Denton.
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.