The sun went down that night two summers ago. And night time is the right time for Kevin Hays, Live at The Stone.
A new live album is out on vinyl this autumn but already there’s a Bandcamp version streaming, it captures intimate duet performances from pianist-composer Hays’ original curation residency at John Zorn’s avant-garde New York venue.
Tunes are fourfold. Firstly, it is Hays’ ‘Bob Dylan’ spookily arrived at – the melody eventually revealed in a nasally vocalised sounding synth setting followed by some wonderfully grandiose power chords towards the 7 minute mark after the rustling Wollesenian early scene setting thickets of the sonic undertow. Secondly, there’s Hays’ and Craig Taborn’s ‘Presence’ as the piece titles it on the Bandcamp description. Otherwise the piece is listed as ‘Awakening’ if you look closely at the vinyl annotation.
Then, thirdly, the Stone set sequences Gilad Hekselman’s ‘The Dove Will Fly High’ that has a synth that sounds like a tubular bell at the beginning.
It is very differently arranged to the new Trio Grande version mainly because the main theme does not emerge until about 3 and a half minutes in. That’s after the fascinating increasingly church bell-like tolling build-up whereas the main theme appears early on in the TG treatment. Fourthly, it’s the very beautiful Hays ballad, ‘Remember Me.’
Referring to the last of these Live at the Stone pieces which to me is the best thing on the album the ‘Remember me’ version has an iridescent electronic keyboard sheen to it [sort of modular monophonic sounding with a woozy “vocalisation” fed in] that’s extremely appealing before peeling off into a piano continuity passage after the hazy introduction and then an incredibly tender Wendel solo. When Hays comps later on before opening up with some trebly piccolo-like lines it’s in a Mehldau-eseque vein engagingly.
Serving as the first vinyl release for AHT Records nyc, an independent record label founded by musician and producer Adrien H. Tillmann, the project features a series of improvisational dialogues involving multi-keyboardist Craig Taborn, last heard by this blog playing with The Bad Plus at the Barbican during their farewell tour, guitarist Gilad Hekselman whose Downhill From Here was a thrill last year, saxophonist Ben Wendel whose work I like with Tom Ollendorff, and drummer Kenny Wollesen known for his collaborations with ‘Don’t Know Why’ songwriter Jesse Harris.
MORE ON HAYS IN MARLBANK
…Hays, on the above release, also had a live album with Claffy and Eric Harland out called Live in Vasto, Italy recorded in 2025 a superb excerpt from which is on YouTube.
Also don’t forget his contribution to Patrick Zimmerli’s Songs of Innocence.