Ben Lamar Gay Quartet at Hamilton Park & Cultural Center

The 26th Annual Englewood Jazz Festival, presented by Live the Spirit Residency, returns to Chicago’s historic Hamilton Park, expanding to five nights this year on September 16–20, 2025, marking a powerful milestone in American music: the 60th Anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). All events are FREE. 

Ben Lamar Gay Quartet, featuring Ben LaMar Gay on cornet , vocals, electronics flute; Matthew Davis on tuba, vocals, electronics, flute; Edinho Gerber on guitar, vocals, flute; Tommaso Moretti on drums, vocals

Ben LaMar Gay is a multi-freshness artist who moves sound, color, and space components through folkloric filters producing brilliant electro-acoustic collages. An explorer of many mediums who has been called a “visionary musician” by the New York Times, Gay has found a form of creative expression that begins with improvisation and expands beyond the limits of any single genre. Receiving accolades for a parade of more than eight albums, his latest release “Yowzers” solidified his place in the firmament of the Chicago Jazz Renaissance and was revered as one of the “Best Albums of 2025” by Washington Post, Pitchfork, JazzTimes, and Digital Berliner. Gay is a beneficiary of the 2022 Mellon Archives Innovation Fellowship. A worldwide performer, Gay’s creative projects are embraced by communities in Cabo Verde, Nigeria, Brazil, Italy, France, Japan, Brazil, Poland, Rwanda, Germany, Cuba and more. He is adopting global visions while remaining true to his roots as a South-Side native of Chicago."