Personalities and Perspective: Esteban Castro Speaks
Photo courtesy of the artist.
by Sarah Thomas
A native of New Jersey, pianist Esteban Castro moved to the city in 2020. He’s already established himself as an in-demand collaborator and is stepping out more frequently as a leader. Castro brings a new trio to The Jazz Gallery on Wednesday, featuring recent compositions for the group as well as other originals. We chatted last week about settling into performance after the pandemic, a recent duo tour, and the formation of his trio.
The Jazz Gallery: Could you start by telling me about your show at The Jazz Gallery next week?
Esteban Castro: I'm going to be playing mostly my original compositions with my trio. It's with Gervis Myles on the bass and Kayvon Gordon on the drums. This specific band is relatively new. We just played at Birdland over the summer, and that was our first gig together. But we've done a few shows since then. So I'm excited and looking forward to playing at the Gallery.
TJG: How did you meet each other and why did you start the trio?
EC: I've been playing with Gervis for a while. I've been in New York now for around three years, and I met Gervis pretty much straight away when I moved here. He's a really great guy. I trust him a lot as a person, and I think that's very important in terms of having a band. I really believe in that. Your musical personality and your personality as a human being are so connected.
A big thing for me when I'm hiring band members is I don't like to give much instruction. I'm really big on just letting everyone's personality shine, because if the personalities blend well that's when you can create something really special. If you blend well as a person with your band members, that is really going to help musically.
With Kayvon, I first heard him playing with Micah Thomas and with Sullivan Fortner. Both of them are some of my biggest influences in terms of younger piano players, and Kayvon has always sounded really great with them.
Then I was fortunate enough to play with him in a session with Gervis a few months ago. I felt like he brought my music to life, and the blend with him and Gervis felt great. He's also a really great guy. I love being around him. He’s super genuine. Then, like I said, our first gig with this band was a month and a half ago. And I love the way they both play my music.
TJG: Are you playing music you wrote for the trio or earlier stuff you wanted to try out with this group?
EC: It's a combination of both. There's some stuff that I wrote before the trio came together. But I've been trying to write new stuff specifically for this gig as well. It's always nice to have that motivator.
It's really interesting, though, because I definitely feel like with musicians like Gervis and Kayvon, and other musicians who really have a personality, they can change your perception of your own music. It's really nice. So I'll write something and maybe I'll have something vague in mind, and then they won't do exactly that. They'll do a different thing. Then I'm like, “Oh, wow! Now I know that's what I wanted for this piece. I would never have imagined that when I was writing.”
TJG: Outside of this trio, what are your go-to instrumentation combinations?
EC: In terms of being a leader, it's pretty much been trios. I've just been moving around with personnel, and I think now I'm kind of settling. But I also really enjoy playing solo piano. I love playing duo as well because I feel like I have a lot of freedom, which I like. But it's all great.
TJG: You were touring recently with a duo in Asia and Australia. How was that?
EC: That was great. That was my first real international tour. I'm fairly young, and when I moved to New York to pursue music full time it was 2020 during COVID. So the first year there was nothing, and then the second year there was still pretty much nothing. There wasn’t much going on until the beginning of 2022, and I've been steadily playing since then.
This tour was a few months ago. It was with this amazing alto sax player, Francesco Cafiso, and it was great to be a part of his tour. It was three weeks long and we went to Hong Kong, Singapore, Brisbane, Sydney, and Jakarta.
Duo is great because it’s so conversational. If you're part of a rhythm section, that’s conversational as well but you’re automatically playing more of a specific role. In duo playing, it doesn't really even feel like you're playing a role. You're just reacting and listening. Also, we didn't know each other super well before the tour and it was just us, so we really got to bond. It was nice to see that as our relationship was developing personally, the music was also evolving.
For the first gig, I was nervous. I was in my head. Then, as I got to know Francesco more, I got out of my head because I felt more comfortable around him. So by the time the last gig happened, it was a lot more free. It was also similar repertoire, so it was cool to see specifically how each piece changed over the course of three weeks after playing it so much. But it never got old, which was great. It was a wonderful experience. I hope to be doing more of that for sure.
TJG: Do you have other projects coming up, with your trio or otherwise?
EC: In October, the trio is playing at The Gilmore Piano Festival in Michigan and at Trinity Wall Street’s series, Jazz at One. Then I'm sure there will be some dates down the road after that. There are also a couple of records I was on recently that are going to be out soon, so keep an eye out for those. I’ll be posting about those and other upcoming shows on Instagram at @estebanmcastro_.
Esteban Castro plays The Jazz Gallery with his trio on Wednesday, August 9. The group features Esteban Castro on piano, Gervis Myles on bass, and Kayvon Gordon on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. ET. $20 general admission ($15 for members), $30 cabaret seating ($20 for members), $20 Livestream ($5 for members). General Admission & Livestream: Free with SUMMERPASS. Purchase tickets here.