Meet Dylan Hayes

We recently connected with Dylan Hayes and have shared our conversation below.

Dylan, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I don’t really think of what I do as “work” in the traditional sense. I’m either practicing, writing, rehearsing, teaching, or performing—but it all feels like part of the same creative drive. My work ethic comes from a deep love for the music and the process of constantly growing as a musician.

To stay inspired and creative, I make it a priority to practice the piano daily. That includes transcribing the masters, expanding my repertoire, and spending focused time composing and arranging—especially for big band, which has become a true passion of mine. I’ve had the privilege of studying with some incredible mentors like Jim Knapp, David Marriott, and more recently, Steven Feifke. Their guidance pushed me to refine my craft and keep showing up, day after day.

One thing I really love is bringing people together to workshop new music. Whether it’s rehearsing a new octet chart or testing out a piano trio arrangement in the studio, that collaborative energy fuels everything I do. I’m especially passionate about recording albums—each one is like a time capsule of where I’m at musically and who I’m creating with.

2024 was a big year for me. Some highlights include:

Recording a trio album with Stanley Ruvinov and Xavier Lecouturier

Recording a third album with Meridian Odyssey

Recording an octet record with Michael Glynn, Rex Gregory, Mark Taylor, Martin Budde, Xavier Lecouturier, David Marriott, and Michael Van Bebber

Recording a new project with Vela The Band at Chano Dominguez’s studio in Spain

Performing for the first time in Europe and New York City

Touring the West Coast and Canada with Meridian Odyssey

Touring with trumpeter Jun Iida

Conducting the Jim Knapp Orchestra for the first time at the Royal Room

Hosting my first student recital

Taking a deep dive into large ensemble writing with a class led by Steven Feifke

And going on a memorable sailing trip with Xavier, one of my closest friends

Earlier this year, I also had the unforgettable opportunity to perform at the International Jazz Plaza Festival in Havana, Cuba with Vela The Band.

Hard work really does pay off, and doing what I love has opened doors to perform in places like NYC, Barcelona, Havana, and all along the West Coast. A long-term goal of mine is to record a big band album—something I’ve been dreaming about for years.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a jazz pianist, composer, and arranger based in Seattle, originally from San Francisco. I wear a few hats—performer, bandleader, arranger—but at the core of everything I do is a love for creating and collaborating. I co-lead the Jim Knapp Orchestra, a 14-piece ensemble dedicated to keeping Jim Knapp’s innovative writing alive while introducing new large ensemble works to the Seattle scene.

I also lead and co-lead several other groups, including Meridian Odyssey, Vela The Band, and my own trio. Across all these projects, what excites me most is the process of building something from scratch—writing new music, workshopping it with trusted collaborators, recording it, and then bringing it to audiences in completely different places and settings.

My background in arranging has led to commissions from the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, the Carolina Philharmonic, and the Portland Composers Jazz Ensemble, among others. Whether I’m scoring for strings or horns, I love the challenge of writing music that resonates emotionally while staying rhythmically and harmonically adventurous.

This year, I’ve been focused on continuing to expand my writing for large ensemble and planning future recording projects—including a big band record, which is a long-term goal of mine. I’m always looking for new opportunities to collaborate, share original music, and keep building something meaningful with the people around me.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, the three most impactful areas in my journey have been arranging, composing, and teaching.

Arranging taught me how to think deeply about structure, voicing, and orchestration—how to take an idea and shape it into something that works on a larger scale. Studying with Jim Knapp and later with Steven Feifke helped me understand how powerful writing for ensembles can be—not just musically, but in terms of bringing people together around a shared vision. If you’re new to arranging, start by analyzing charts you love and writing for the musicians around you. The more you hear your work played live, the faster you’ll grow.

Composing has always felt like the most personal part of my artistry. It’s where I get to be honest and exploratory—writing tunes that reflect my influences, my environment, and where I’m at creatively. I write anywhere—at the piano, in my head, into voice memos—wherever inspiration strikes. For anyone starting out, I’d say don’t worry about whether your ideas are “good” right away. Just write a lot. Trust your taste and keep refining.

Teaching has probably shaped me more than I expected. It’s one thing to understand a concept yourself, but breaking it down clearly for someone else is where you really internalize it. Teaching has made me a better listener and a more intentional communicator. For those early in their journey, I’d recommend teaching whenever you get the chance—it gives you perspective, deepens your knowledge, and helps build community.

All three of these areas feed into each other, and they’ve helped me become a more complete musician. They’ve also reminded me that growth is a long game—built on consistency, humility, and staying open to new ideas.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

I believe that the best musicians are both specialists and explorers. For me, exposing myself to a wide range of genres has been essential—not just for versatility, but for understanding how all music is connected. The more I dive into one style, the more it reveals about another.

My love for Stevie Wonder led me to discover George Duke, which opened the door to Herbie Hancock—and once you’re tuned in to Herbie, it’s like a whole universe unfolds. That exploration naturally took me into the worlds of Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and many others. Each artist lit the path to the next, and the deeper I went, the more I saw how groove, harmony, and improvisation live across genres.

That openness started early for me. My grandpa was always singing—people used to say he looked like Frank Sinatra. His favorite tune was Ain’t Misbehavin’, and he encouraged me to learn it when I was just starting out. My dad was a DJ and played Motown music at a San Francisco nightclub called Barefoot Boogie, and my grandma, who was Puerto Rican, always had flamenco music playing in the house. My brother was into hip hop and rap, and that was a big part of my listening growing up too. All of that shaped who I am as a musician.

I also want the people I hire to bring that same openness. I want musicians who can swing, hold down a backbeat, and play with authenticity across different grooves—whether it’s Brazilian rhythms like Maracatu or Baião, or something else entirely. I love writing music that blends all these influences into something new.

If something isn’t my area of expertise, I’m probably curious about it. Traveling, meeting people from different cultures, and being open to new ideas has given me an education I couldn’t have gotten in any school.

That said, if a musician is a master of one thing, I’ll definitely call them for that. But as for myself, I want to keep growing, connecting the dots, and finding inspiration in unexpected places.

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