Nicholas Payton, 'Sonic Trance'

Jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton

Roy Hurst, NPR News

Nicholas Payton has been nominated for yet another Grammy — not surprising, given that the 30-year-old trumpet player has been winning rave reviews for his own take on "traditional" jazz for many years.

From 'Sonic Trance'

Hear samples from Payton's Grammy-nominated jazz CD:

 'Cannabis Leaf Rag 1'

 'Fela 2'

 'Two Mariachis on the Wall'

But this time, Payton is nominated in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category, for his CD Sonic Trance — a challenging, multi-faceted work with plenty of electronic elements and a strong dose of hip-hop attitude.

The Tavis Smiley Show producer Roy Hurst caught up with Payton to talk about what the musician would say to his jazz purists fans, shocked by Payton's detour into the "contemporary" category, and a more important question: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the hip-hop nation?"