via Downbeat.com
The remarkably distinctive and individualist style of Ben LaMar Gay places this Chicagoan multitasker at the forefront of adventurous jazz (and ritually folkloric electronica). It’s his voice and phrasing, his use of worming synths and his actual songwriting that propel Gay’s artistry, but his tightly contained cornet curlicues are also impressive. A stable band continues to make unstable music, with sensitive drums, deep tuba and rootsy guitar aiding in this quest, as well as added bass clarinet and three-part vocal chorus.
The title cut carries a gospel undertow, but with sneaky synth spirals in the background.
“The Glorification Of Small Victories” features a free-Eastern drum-tumble, flutey electronics, small metal showers and a vocal invocation, sounding somewhat native American, keeping phrases hollered and extended. There’s even an injection of crispy cornet and restless guitar. “For Breezy” is a succinct remembrance for Jamie Branch, with some tender bass clarinet surges. The comparatively epic “I Am (Bells)” climaxes with one of Gay’s most compulsive vocal out-cries, and the sympathetically lengthy “Cumulus” acts like a mini-suite for straighter jazz lovers, guitar and muted cornet conversing over uncrowded palette. But by two minutes in, it’s already wisping into electro-bleeps and bassy bloops, voices joining in at three minutes, then climaxing with repeating horn, synths and clutter-drum spasms. No one is making music like this, but many would probably desire such a state of assured abstraction.
—Martin Longley