[2] He was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, and began studying the piano at the age of six,[1] after hearing his father, an amateur player.
[2] He then had a period in Nick Brignola's band,[1] and attended the Manhattan School of Music for a semester[2] in 1986 before dropping out to concentrate on performing.
[2] "Hays played regularly with a number of Bob Belden's ensembles from the late 1980s, and in the 1990s he toured Japan and recorded with the Harper Brothers (1990) and worked with Steve Wilson, Benny Golson (from c. 1990), Joshua Redman's quartet (1992), Seamus Blake (from 1993), and Eddie Henderson (from 1994).
[6][7] Also in 2011, Variations, a solo piano album that included interpretations of Robert Schumann, was released by Pirouet Records.
[10] "Hays has a linear style and a strong harmonic sense, and uses the pedal to produce a clipped sound, recalling the early work of Paul Bley.