Recorded on March 27, 2023, over two years ago, Chicago’s International Anthem have shared a video of Ben LaMar Gay performing “I am (bells)”, live at the Zig Zag Club in Berlin. This live performance presents an interesting contrast to the version featured on his latest album, Yowzers, released earlier this month on June 6th (and available to stream from today).
In his review of the album, Thomas Blake says of the album track:
I Am (Bells) has a more controlled sense of evolution, moving serenely but inexorably from Gay’s unaccompanied vocals to a hypnotic, chiming minimalism and a crashing finale of percussion and impassioned vocals recalling Beefheart or Dr John.
This performance lends enormous weight to the description of Gay as an imbued composer, conjurer, and channeler of cosmopolitan Blues. It’s no wonder that fellow labelmate Jeff Parker calls him “hands down, one of my favorite musicians on the planet today.”
Yowzers (June 6th, 2025) International Anthem
Bandcamp: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/yowzers
Streaming: https://international-anthem.lnk.to/Yowzers