Nicholas Payton

[Bol]

I know I'm being very philistine, but I've grown very weary of trying new contemporary jazz recordings, as so many times I've been disappointed. So, there are very few contemporary people whose recordings I try to keep up with.

Now I am thinking of getting some Nicholas Payton albums. I really like his playing on Greg Osby's "St. Louis Shoes". And the little snipets I've heard on Tower.com are intriguing. Unlike many people, I like some of Wynton Marsalis's recordings (esp. "The Marcia Suite"), but I find Roy Hargrove a bit boring and uneventful. Payton seems more interesting than either.

Any thoughts on Payton's works on Verve would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Chrome]

Can't help on Payton, but have you heard Hargrove on "Parker's Mood"? It's him w/ Christian McBride on bass and Stephen Scott on piano, playing Charlie Parker tunes.

Combining Parker's music w/a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary lineup of instruments makes for a very interesting listen.

[couw]

I've only heard Payton's Place. Very nice if not to my personal taste. A bit too bland in the Wynton neo-bop style if you ask me. Which is to say: I am probably the wrong guy to answer your query.

I hear he did something way different after he left Verve. Is that the album that flirts with hiphop and fusion and whatnot?

[catesta]

I don't have much by Payton.

I got his cd as a gift a few years back. For me though Cheatham makes the date.

I also have this Ray Brown telarc date in which Payton is featured.

[montg]

My advice would be to skip Payton and go directly to anything by Jeremy Pelt--try his album "Insight" on Criss Cross. I had a couple of Payton's Verve CDs, never really got into them, and sold them. Go for Pelt!

[sal]

Like couw says, his Verve stuff is good, but not great. I've always found that he performs best as a sideman. "St Louis Shoes" along with Eric Alexander's "Summit Meeting" and Tim Warfield's "Jazz Is...." contain some of his best work.

[Rooster_Ties]

(Another vote for Jeremy Pelt, though I realize that's not what this thread's supposed to be about. )

[kdd]

With all due respect to Pelt, to me he's not the trumpet player Payton is. Not yet anyway. That said, I don't think Payton has made a record I enjoy as much as Pelt's Profile. My favorite recordings of Payton are a Greg Tardy record The Hidden Light and the Adonis Rose Criss Cross dates

Edited February 26, 2004 by kdd

[Bol]

All your posts are giving me second thoughts about getting more Payton albums. I've just acquired from half.com "Fingerprinting" which Payton recorded with C. McBride and a guitarist whose name I cannot recall. I'll listen to it for a week or so and make up my mind as to whether I want more. But thanks again for your responses.

[RainyDay]

I pay little attention to lables, etc and don't buy much music any more. I do have Nick at Night which is enjoyable. In the past couple of years, he has gone in a new direction since that record. I have seen him a couple of times, once at the SF Jazz Festival in Fall 2002, and last year at Yoshi's and he was cooking! He is playing more out, and it draws more from his New Orleans roots. It's a kind of raucous, kick butt kind of sound. I REALLY like it. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

When I saw him with Ray Brown back in 2001, I guess it was, he was very good but quite subdued compared to where he is now.

I'd get something that he has done in the past 1-2 years. I have heard some of Dear Louis and liked it but he's done something since then that is quite good but I can't recall the title. I believe it reflects his new attitude.

My 1.5 cents worth.

[randissimo]

I pay little attention to lables, etc and don't buy much music any more. I do have Nick at Night which is enjoyable. In the past couple of years, he has gone in a new direction since that record. I have seen him a couple of times, once at the SF Jazz Festival in Fall 2002, and last year at Yoshi's and he was cooking! He is playing more out, and it draws more from his New Orleans roots. It's a kind of raucous, kick butt kind of sound. I REALLY like it. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

When I saw him with Ray Brown back in 2001, I guess it was, he was very good but quite subdued compared to where he is now.

I'd get something that he has done in the past 1-2 years. I have heard some of Dear Louis and liked it but he's done something since then that is quite good but I can't recall the title. I believe it reflects his new attitude.

My 1.5 cents worth.

I heard Nicolas Payton the other day on a radio show while I was driving somewhere to get a bite and thought I was listening to a track off of a Miles album around the time of "Bitches Brew/Miles Live at the Filmore" ..A really cookin' track!

[rachel]

I saw Nicholas Payton and Sonic Trance at the IAJE Conference in January. It was a great show, not easy to categorize (kick-butt is a great description), w/elements of hip-hop done very nicely. The show was recorded for release sometime (soon I hope). Here's the website to order. He's great live.

Nicholas Payton & Sonic Trance - New York, NY 01/24/2004

Edited February 27, 2004 by rachel

[Alexander]

I only have his new CD, but I'm really digging it (but I'm a Nu Fusion fan)...

[sal]

With all due respect to Pelt, to me he's not the trumpet player Payton is.

I agree with this statement. Pelt's records are much better, but I think Payton is a better player.

[chris olivarez]

Try Payton's "Gumbo Nouveau".

[EKE BBB]

Not that I´m an expert in "Young lions"... (quite the opposite). Not that I dare criticize or praise Payton, Hargrove, Pelt, Blanchard or even Marsalis, but I really dig "Gumbo noveau" and "Fingerpaintings" (mentioned above), and some of his earlier work with Elvin Jones, such as "Youngblood".

Guess he´s too "classical" for some of our members

Edited March 8, 2004 by EKE BBB

[sheldonm]

Bol,

I believe the guitarist was Mark Whitfield..

Mark