Live Shows 4:

Nicholas Payton Quintet: Jazz Standard - June 10th, 2007

A pleasant surprise this summer was the Nicholas Payton Quintet. I originally went to the show because, as a trumpet player, I thought it was my duty. I don't often attend trumpet players' shows or even gravitate towards their records. But Payton has been one of the most significant trumpet players on the scene since the early 90's, and has in the recent past shown a remarkable amount of versatility and artistic merit. His tenure as a sideman for Greg Osby and in the SF Jazz Collective, as well as his dive into modern fusion with his last album "Sonic Trance", showed that he was far from a one-trick Pony. Whereas other trumpet players like Roy Hargrove and Terence Blanchard seem to just be further paving their already-clear paths, Payton has been rejoicing in his youth and experimenting as much as possible. And to much success. Knowing this, his recent show at the standard was even more of a pleasant surprise. With a quintet comrpised of Kevin Hays (on a heavily distortion-drenched Rhodes, and piano), Vicente Archer, (a very young) Marcus Gilmore and Daniel Sadownick, Payton stood on solid middle ground between his traditional roots and his experimental tendencies. The set opened up with a modal, fusion number that allowed all of the members to stretch out. What started out sounding like a B-Side to Bitches Brew ended up sounding like a modern hip-hop track. The fusion continued even into an extremely slick version of Mancini's classic "Days of Wine and Roses". Payton never showed off too much; he understands his role even in his own group. As much as he commands the direction of the band and his own sound, he is never over the top. This truly was a group. They may not be treading new waters, but they're happy lying in the happy medium between tradition and modernity, and they do it oh so well. Kudos to Payton for chilling out on the middle ground.

9/10

This show's lineup was almost exactly the same as Patyon's 2004 show at the NYC IAJE conference, save for Adonis Rose on drums and Tim Warfield on Saxophone. The recording of that 2004 show started out as a bootleg, but became so popular that it was actually (limitedly) released. Lucky for you I have it.

Nicholas Payton - Stardust (Live at IAJE, NYC 1-24-04)