She apologizes “very much” for the delay: “I was busy with my daughter and I lost my mind.” Rita Payés (Vilassar de Mar, Barcelona, 24 years old) has reasons for her distraction. After becoming a mother for the second time just four months ago, the composer and trombonist who won over the public at the 2022 Goya Awards gala with C. Tangana and who has sold out in much of Europe and Latin America, is back with a new album. On the way to the road, The third of her brilliant career, the jazz singer, born in Maresme, continues her inexhaustible search for her own sound and the beauty of everyday life: “It is an eternal search because you always arrive at the same beginning. Learning about music has no end and neither does learning about life, there is the metaphor.”
How does a trombonist get more than 100,000 followers on Instagram?
I don’t know! I guess C. Tangana’s move gave it a boost, although I’ve always been slow. I’ve been working hard for music all my life, but I feel privileged because there are people who do incredible things and can’t make a living from it. How lucky that it was me.
Having two daughters at 24 makes you almost a countercultural figure. Did you feel socially distanced by being a mother?
My life has changed radically. In my opinion, when you have a child you have to be willing to wallow in it and live through that vital transformation. As for friends, it’s a good filter to see which people stick by you and to whom you want to dedicate the little energy you have.
I imagine your lullabies work perfectly…
Yes (laughs). In fact, I included a lullaby on the album, but it’s dedicated to mothers. I was inspired by all the time we spend trying to get our children to sleep and how sometimes what you want is for someone to sing lullabies to you. It’s dedicated to all the mothers who work hard and deserve to be lulled to sleep themselves.
Confess something: when was the last time you went out partying?
I’ve never liked going out to party, I think I’ve only done it twice in my life. I’m lazy about being there in an industrial estate with no charm, listening to songs I don’t like and having to drink to have a good time. I prefer to go out to jam session and stay up all night playing.
There is always talk about the need to rejuvenate the jazz public. Do you have any hope for the future?
I’ve been surprised these past few years. Old people have always come to see me play, and I love it, but lately I see a lot of young people in the audience.
