Ben LaMar Gay: The World of Ben LaMar Gay

Ben LaMar Gay plays the McGuire Theater at the Walker Art Center on Saturday, December 5, 2026, at 7:30 PM. He'll be performing from his 2025 album, Yowzers, backed by his core quartet and three vocalists.

Gay is a Chicago Southsider whose style is hard to pin down to one genre. DownBeat puts him at the forefront of adventurous jazz and ritually folkloric electronica, and that's a good place to start. He works as much as a folklorist as an instrumentalist, tracing the musical threads that connect traditions across the Americas and folding them into his own version of Americana. That reach goes from Delta blues to Tropicália, and he doesn't stop at the standard kit—you'll hear bell choir, tuba, and diddley bow in the mix.

The concert is part of the Walker's 2026-2027 performing arts season, curated by McGuire director and senior curator of performing arts Philip Bither. The season frames itself around deconstructions of the human body and explorations of largely untold histories, with a strong emphasis on Black history that counters colonialist narratives. It runs through Out There 2027, a series of experimental art performances, and Embodying Lost Histories, which stages retellings and reimaginings of Black history.

Tickets start at $20, and the show starts at 7:30 PM on Saturday, December 5, at the McGuire Theater inside the Walker Art Center.