Nicholas Payton Explained

Nicholas Payton
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Date:26 September 1973
Birth Place:New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Instrument:Trumpet, electric piano
Genre:Jazz, jazz fusion
Occupation:Musician
Years Active:1990–present
Associated Acts:Young Tuxedo Brass Band, The Blue Note 7

Nicholas Payton (born September 26, 1973) is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana.[1] He is also a writer who comments on subjects including music, race, politics, and life in America.

Biography

The son of bassist and sousaphonist Walter Payton, he began playing the trumpet at the age of four and by age nine was sitting in with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band alongside his father. He began his professional career at ten years old as a member of James Andrews' All-Star Brass and was given his first steady gig by guitarist Danny Barker at The Famous Door on Bourbon Street. He enrolled at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and then at the University of New Orleans.

After touring with Marcus Roberts and Elvin Jones in the early 1990s, Payton signed a contract with Verve Records; his first album, From This Moment, appeared in 1995. In 1996 he performed on the soundtrack of the movie Kansas City, and in 1997 received a Grammy Award (Best Instrumental Solo) for his playing on the album Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton.

After seven albums on Verve, Payton signed with Warner Bros. Records, releasing Sonic Trance, his first album on the new label, in 2003. Besides his recordings under his own name, other significant collaborations include Trey Anastasio, Ray Brown, Ray Charles, Daniel Lanois, Dr. John, Stanley Jordan, Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Zigaboo Modeliste, Marcus Roberts, Jill Scott, Clark Terry, Allen Toussaint, Nancy Wilson, Dr. Michael White, and Joe Henderson.

In 2004, he became a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective. In 2008, he joined The Blue Note 7, a septet formed in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. In 2011, he formed a 21-piece big band ensemble called the Television Studio Orchestra. In 2011, he also recorded and released Bitches, a love narrative on which he played every instrument, sang, and wrote all of the music. In 2012 the Czech National Symphony Orchestra commissioned and debuted his first full orchestral work, The Black American Symphony. And in 2013, he formed his own record label, BMF Records, and the same year released two albums, #BAM Live at Bohemian Caverns, where he plays both trumpet and Fender Rhodes, often at once, and Sketches of Spain, which he recorded with the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As group

New Orleans Collective
With Wessell Anderson, Christopher Thomas, Peter Martin and Brian Blade

SFJAZZ Collective (2004-06)

The Blue Note 7 (2008-09)

As sideman/guest

With Eric Alexander

With Joanne Brackeen

With Bill Charlap

With Common

With The Headhunters

With Joe Henderson

With Doc Houlind

With Dr. John

With Elvin Jones

With Abbey Lincoln

With Joshua Redman

With

With Jimmy Smith

With Allen Toussaint

Awards and nominations

YearResultAwardCategoryWork
1997Grammy AwardBest Jazz Instrumental Solo[2] "Stardust"
in Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton
1997Grammy AwardBest Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or GroupDoc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton
with Doc Cheatham
2001Grammy AwardBest Large Jazz Ensemble AlbumDear Louis
2003Grammy AwardBest Contemporary Jazz AlbumSonic Trance
2023Grammy AwardBest Jazz Instrumental AlbumNew Standards Vol. 1

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nicholas Payton . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050305130203/http://www.jazztrumpetsolos.com/Nicholas_Payton_Biography.asp . March 5, 2005 . mdy-all .
  2. Web site: Nicholas Payton . Recording Academy .