​​KEVIN HAYS | JORGE ROSSY – THE WAIT

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The combination of piano and mallet instruments, such as vibraphone and marimba, is not entirely unique for a duo in jazz, but it is quite rare. It was particularly through the work of two major innovators of the vibraphone, following in the footsteps of Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson, that this minimalist format of collaboration with pianists reached great artistic heights: Gary Burton with Chick Corea and Bobby Hutcherson with McCoy Tyner created legendary duo recordings. 

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The dialogue between pianist (and occasional vocalist) Kevin Hays, born in New York in 1968, and Spanish multi-instrumentalist Jorge Rossy, began in 1991. Rossy, born in Barcelona in 1964, studied trumpet, gained fame as a drummer, cherishes the piano, and combines these passions in mallet instruments. After moving from Boston to New York, he lived near Kevin Hays, and the two regularly met for sessions. This collaboration led to concerts and tours together with Joshua Redman, Mark Turner, Joe Sanders, and Joe Martin. Later, after Jorge Rossy and Javier Vercher recorded *Filantropía* as a duo in 2017 and needed a band to present the music, they included Kevin, Masa Kamaguchi and Billy Hart in the lineup. 

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Clap Your Hands (CYH) facilitated recording this music in the rehearsal and recording hall of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra – an ideal acoustic setting featuring a wonderful marimba, an excellent vibraphone, and a beautiful grand piano.  

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The album opens with Toninho Horta's *De Ton Pra Tom*. Jorge Rossy toured with Horta in May, and this piece, characterized by its powerful harmonies, was composed after Tom Jobim's death in 1994. The title track, *The Wait,* was composed by Kevin Hays, inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s French poem *L’attente,* written in Ragaz (known as Bad Ragaz since 1937) in 1926. This piece is one of four compositions by Hays on the album, alongside two pieces by Rossy. Together with *Misterioso* (Thelonious Monk), *Somewhere* (Leonard Bernstein), *Travessia* (Milton Nascimento), and a free improvisation, the album represents a high point in the ongoing dialogue between Kevin Hays and Jorge Rossy.  

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The two musicians allow space and time in their playing, attentively listening to each other, breathing within the music, and continuously trading roles, alternating between taking on the melody and supporting. Both masterfully shift between the percussive, linear, and harmonic possibilities of their instruments, interspersing delicately timed, nuanced solos. At times, they contrast and intensify their surprising music, heightening their interplay by weaving their performances together and increasing their urgency. Free from any trace of superficial showmanship, gimmicks, or overt effects, Kevin Hays and Jorge Rossy create nothing less than astonishing, profoundly lyrical music – truly great art.