Saturday, February 22, 2025, 6:00 pm
Ben LaMar Gay Ensemble and Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few
Ben LaMar Gay Ensemble and Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few
February 22 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
$10 – $50
featuring Jimetta Rose
Tickets
Adults $50
Students & Youth $10
(includes the performances and a catered dinner)
Presented in collaboration with Feed Me Weird Things
Hancher and Feed Me Weird Things present a totally unique evening of music and food.
Witness two distinct sets of music that track Chicago’s broad and visonary jazz tradition; in between musicals sets, the audience will enjoy a community dinner featuring a generous menu of warm soul food in the heart of the Iowa winter.
The evening leads off on the Hadley Stage with Chicago-born cornetist and singer Ben LaMar Gay and his ensemble playing a set of music from their forthcoming International Anthem release. It’s music that harmonizes a broad range of influences: jazz to funk, R&B to Tropicália, and electro to contemporary classical. Gay is a stalwart of Chicago’s experimental music scene, a member of the pivotal Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and a frequent collaborator of Nicole Mitchell, George Lewis, and Angel Bat Dawid, among others.
Ben LaMar Gay been lauded as “a visionary” (The New York Times), “strikingly original” (Afropunk), “uncategorizable” (Pitchfork), and “hands down, one of my favorite musicians on the planet today” (Jeff Parker).
After Gay’s set, the audience will move over to Strauss Hall for a buffet-style community dinner.
Following dinner, we’ll go back to the Hadley Stage for a performance by Chicago-born Isaiah Collier and his band, The Chosen Few. They’ll be joined at Hancher by the gospel soul singer Jimetta Rose to perform a special set featuring tracks from their celebrated 2023 release Parallel Universe. On this project, Collier—who was reared in the same Park Manor Chicago neighborhood as Gay—draws together an equally rich sonic vocabulary: funk and gospel alongside spiritual jazz and post-bebop squall.
Isaiah Collier has been described as a “shamanistic saxophone prodigy” (The Guardian) and “an heir apparent to both the Chicago lineage and the post-Coltrane sax tradition” (The New York Times).
Menu (subject to change)
Cowhorn Okra Soup & Rice
Sugar Glazed Carrots
Leafy Greens
Baked Mac & Cheese
Roasted Chicken with dressing
West African Brisket
Peach Cobbler
Sweet Potato Pie
PROGRAM:
Performance by Ben LaMar Gay Ensemble
Buffet-style community dinner
Performance by Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few with Jimetta Rose