August 2010

The Koby Hayon Trio Presents a Wide Range
of Sounds in New CD “Gemini”

By Pete Malinverni

Jerusalem-born guitarist Koby Hayon is a remarkable artist whose music is an aural manifestation of what he feels. In this production-obsessed age of the tail wagging the dog – musicians and producers who seem more interested in the technique of how music is played and packaged than in the emotional honesty of what is played – it’s a pleasant change to hear one whose music is unfiltered by a superficial scrim of gratuitous tricks. That’s not to say Koby Hayon hasn’t worked hard to build a formidable ability at the guitar – it’s clear he has, during his years of study in Israel and since his move to New York in 2001, when he came to study in the renowned Jazz Studies program at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music. But we don’t hear the effort; instead we hear Hayon’s humanity. He uses his estimable skills in the service of human expression. That, to an artist, is the definition of real technique.

In his dual role as teacher and musician at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale where he has served for six years, Koby Hayon is content to do whatever it takes to get the job done extremely well and without fanfare, conscientiously and expertly tending to each task set before him. But with “Gemini” he steps into the spotlight and fills the stage admirably.

Throughout this eleven-song recital, Hayon and his bandmates, bassist Kermit Driscoll and drummer Jerome Morris, present a wide range of sounds, from the contemplative solo guitar opening of “Vertigo” to the exuberance of “Galbi”, from the joyous exploration of the Lennon/McCartney-penned “Norwegian Wood” to the rhythmic drive of the title track “Gemini.”

Hayon and his trio project a consistent artistic sensibility while navigating the expressive possibilities of each seemingly disparate idiom, blending intimacy with brash statement. These are incongruous idioms, maybe, but there is an overarching discipline at play that keeps the personal voice of Koby Hayon, the human being, out front. It is that confident personal statement that holds the recording together in such a way that gives the listener tastes of many moods and flavors while presenting an overall well-blended statement.

About the writer
Pete Malinverni is a Jazz pianist and composer with twelve recordings under his own name, most of which have resided in the national top ten for airplay. He has concertized at festivals and clubs all over the world including twice at NYC’s Carnegie Recital Hall and has received composition commissions from, among others, the Meet the Composer Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts and Symphony Space. He is on the Jazz Studies faculty at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music and is proud to serve as Pianist/Conductor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, working under Senior Cantor Jill Abramson.

 

© Shoreline Publishing 2010
629 Fifth Avenue, Suite 213, Pelham, NY 10803
Phone: 914-738-7869 Fax 914-738-7876
http://www.shorelinepub.com
prod@shorelinepub.com