Nicholas Payton

Nicholas Payton Trio
"Letters" CD Release Celebration

Nicholas Payton (trumpet, keyboards, vocals)
Peter Washington (bass)
Carl Allen (drums)

New York Times Review: "There are 26 tracks on “Letters” (Paytone), a new double album by Nicholas Payton, and they’re listed just as you’d expect, from A to Z. Which maybe implies a process more methodical than Mr. Payton is strictly inclined to pursue. A post-bop trumpeter who has lately pivoted toward the keyboard, he spends much of the album on acoustic and Fender Rhodes piano, or Hammond B-3 organ. The same was true of “Numbers,” from last year, but where that album paired Mr. Payton with the upstart funk band Butcher Brown, this one features his working trio with Vicente Archer on bass and Bill Stewart on drums, and a more simmering groove. Mr. Payton does solid work as a keyboardist, and delivers every trumpet solo like an unexpected gift. The one he plays on “F,” a prowling boogaloo, peaks with a high D held for more than 20 long seconds, while he pecks out his own accompaniment on the Rhodes. It’s an act of cool bravado worthy of the song’s dedication: to Axel Foley, Eddie Murphy’s character in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films."