Collector by Ramiro Zayas

Sebastián Greschuk - trumpet, flugelhorn
Yossi Itskovich - trombone
Jonathan Acevedo- tenor sax
Baptiste Stanek - bass clarinet, tenor sax, soprano sax
Gianni Narduzzi - double bass
Ramiro Zayas - piano & composition

What makes a musical project leave a mark beyond sound? Collector, the third album as a leader by Argentine pianist and composer Ramiro Zayas, based in Berlin, seeks to explore this question. His approach stems from a deep fascination with timbre, space, and memory.

Set for release in May 2025 under the American label Ears & Eyes Records, Collector brings together a group of high-level international musicians, most of whom are active in the Swiss jazz scene. The lineup includes Baptiste Stanek (FR) on bass clarinet, tenor, and soprano saxophone; Jonathan Acevedo (PR) on tenor saxophone; Sebastián Greschuk (ARG) on trumpet; Yossi Itskovich (IS) on trombone; Gianni Narduzzi (IT) on double bass; and Zayas himself on piano and composition. The diversity of the musicians’ influences and backgrounds brings a unique richness to the project, blending contemporary jazz with a free approach to improvisation and sonic storytelling.

At the heart of Collector lies an evocative concept: an archive of sounds and images carefully gathered over time and transformed into a musical narrative. Zayas drew inspiration from the idea of dark rooms—spaces filled with echoes and light. His compositions seek a balance between structure and freedom. The absence of percussion is not just an aesthetic choice but a fundamental part of the album’s identity: a more orchestral approach to rhythm and dynamics that allows the ensemble to explore textures and timbres with greater transparency, letting melody and harmony intertwine organically.

In this search, Collector moves through distinct sonic spaces: fully composed pieces like the playful Prelude or Yo también quiero coexist with freely improvised passages, where the musicians construct the narrative through timbral and gestural exploration. Zayas also turns to prepared piano in some pieces, adding new layers of color to the ensemble’s sound.

The album embraces different facets of jazz and contemporary music. There are melodic, jazz-influenced moments, like El país de las flores, as well as more rhythmically driven, groove-oriented pieces such as Hummus and Con acento, with a clear reminiscence of Argentine music. Between these extremes, pieces like Cosmos and As we are offer moments of introspection and reflection.

Collector is, at its core, a laboratory—a space where Zayas experiments with textures, rhythms, and timbres, creating a sonic universe that invites deep listening, an immersion into detail, and the discovery of new connections with each experience.

About Ramiro Zayas:
For years, jazz pianist and composer Ramiro Zayas has been blending jazz, free improvisation, and Argentine music in his work. His debut album, Río Interior (2019), is characterized by its refined harmonies. His second album, Parte del Viaje, was released in 2024 and features renowned musicians from the Berlin-Basel jazz scene. He also leads the ensemble Collector, with which he will release his third solo album in May 2025. He is currently preparing his fourth release—a collaborative project with the Basel Jazz Orchestra, showcasing his work for big band.

He has performed on stages and at festivals across Europe, Argentina, and Uruguay, further establishing his reputation as a talented and versatile musician. In addition, he has participated in numerous projects and recordings with various groups from the Argentine jazz scene, including Big Nant, Anónimous Big Band, Mingunos, Tundra, and others. He has been awarded by the Musicboard Berlin, Deutscher Musikrat, Kanton Basel, among others.

Since 2018, as the leader of the Ramiro Zayas Ensemble, he has been actively performing in Berlin. He is also part of Narat, an Argentine-Finnish trio whose first album was released in 2024, and a collaborator with Uruguayan drummer and composer Juan Ibarra, whose joint album will be released in 2025.


About the compositions:

Prelude is a short, playful piece, fully written, somewhat like a deconstructed chorale with a rhythmic texture. It serves as a prelude to Yo también quiero, connecting to it through intervallic material. Each instrument has its place in the orchestration, with the prepared piano adding a percussive element alongside the bass.
Yo también quiero (I Want That Too) is about the creative process—one of its many facets. I often hear something that fascinates me and immediately feel the urge to create something similar, as if recognizing externally what resonates internally.
In this case, I was listening to Carla Bley, Kris Davis, Ralph Alessi, and Wayne Shorter. There was something about the mood—a sense of slow movement—that I wanted to recreate, like a raft drifting gently through the water.

El país de las flores (The Land of Flowers) is a song, possibly the most jazz-influenced piece in the repertoire in terms of form and harmony. It seeks to convey a sense of lightness and romance, an open, airy space, through a gentle melody and a bass line that brings out the warm tone of the bass clarinet.
As the piece unfolds, the influence of Kenny Wheeler becomes increasingly present, culminating in Sebastián Greschuck’s remarkable flugelhorn solo.

Another Kind of Gravity is like one of those dark rooms where gravity feels different—lighter yet dense at the same time. Driven by a constant pulse, it features the great trombonist Yossi Itskovich on the melody.
Space and resonance play a key role in the piece. Harmonically, it echoes fragments of sounds I’ve heard, including influences from Gil Evans.

As We Are is yet another deconstructed chorale, this time with free-flowing voices. Sustained by the pulse of air as a cohesive element, the piece moves gently, unfolding as a statement of simplicity and nostalgia, like a distant memory.

Hummus is a tribute to one of my favorite dishes. For a while, I had been thinking about how to represent it in sound. The leitmotif is a bass line, constructed with rhythmic claves and an opening melody that unmistakably honors Wayne. But Duke Ellington is also present, in the color and character. The featured solos are the bass clarinet and trombone.

Cosmos is one of the most introspective and reflective pieces on the album, a contemplation of vastness. It is the only track that features an electronic element. The sensation of zero gravity is interrupted by a piano interlude, with trumpet interventions. A dark emptiness that doesn't attempt to answer any questions.

Con Acento was inspired by something I encountered in Pygmy music, which fascinated me—an intricate counterpoint of rhythm and textures, loaded with emotion. This led to a sort of Argentine folk song, with hints of the music I’ve heard since childhood, and an accent I can’t hide, nor would I want to—a nervous, dissonant accent.
As in the other pieces, each voice plays a vital role in the orchestration. The solo features Puerto Rican saxophonist Jonathan Acevedo.

For the remaining pieces, I aimed to strike a balance in the amount of written material, so I added interludes—some improvised with certain guidelines, or prepared piano explorations that I thought would enrich the narrative.

Berlin-based jazz pianist/composer.
From Argentina.

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