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Nicholas Payton

Nicholas Payton Reimagines Musical Tradition With 'Black American Symphony'

Trumpeter and composer Nicholas Payton drew controversy in 2011 with his rejection of the word "jazz." Now, he's reimagining black music with a new symphony. Jennifer Coombes/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jennifer Coombes/Courtesy of the artist

Music News

Nicholas Payton Reimagines Musical Tradition With 'Black American Symphony'

His radical combination of symphonic and popular music comes eight years after a controversial statement about the word "jazz."

Nicholas Payton Reimagines Musical Tradition With 'Black American Symphony'

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Nicholas Payton On Piano Jazz
Gus Bennett, Jr./Courtesy of the artist

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Nicholas Payton On Piano Jazz

The trumpet prodigy learned how to improv from fellow New Orleans native Wynton Marsalis. Payton was only in his 20s when he visited with McPartland for this 1998 episode.

Nicholas Payton On Piano Jazz

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Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Green And More On JazzSet

Cyrus Chestnut. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Concerts

Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Green And More On JazzSet

WBGO

Nicholas Payton and Jimmy Heath also join this celebration in swing from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Green And More On JazzSet

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A Celebration In Swing With Cyrus Chestnut And Benny Green: Live In New York

Cyrus Chestnut (left) and Benny Green. courtesy of the artists hide caption

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courtesy of the artists

Toast Of The Nation

A Celebration In Swing With Cyrus Chestnut And Benny Green: Live In New York

WBGO

Start out with two pianists who absolutely command their instruments. Give them a premier bassist and drummer. Then add guests like trumpeter Nicholas Payton and saxophonist Jimmy Heath — an elder statesman of the music — and it becomes a party.

Listen Now: 'A Celebration In Swing'

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Marian McPartland And Friends At Dizzy's Club Coca Cola

Marian McPartland. Andrew Lepley/Redferns hide caption

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Andrew Lepley/Redferns

Concerts

Marian McPartland And Friends At Dizzy's Club Coca Cola

McPartland and friends return to Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, following up on the hugely successful 30th-anniversary concert six months earlier. Guest host Jon Weber shares tunes and memories from that wonderful evening, including "Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," "Royal Garden Blues" and "Twilight World."

Marian McPartland And Friends At Dizzy's Club Coca Cola

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Nicholas Payton Quintet: Live At The Village Vanguard

Nicholas Payton. John Rogers for NPR/johnrogersnyc.com hide caption

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John Rogers for NPR/johnrogersnyc.com

Live At The Village Vanguard

Nicholas Payton Quintet: Live At The Village Vanguard

WBGO

He found his footing in jazz through its hard-swinging main stem. But after he'd proved his hard-bop mettle, he leaned toward experimentalism. Now, the trumpeter seems comfortable with all of it.

Nicholas Payton Quintet: Live At The Village Vanguard

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Concerts

The Blue Note 7 On JazzSet

WBGO

To mark 70 years in business, the Blue Note record label put together an all-star ensemble and commissioned arrangements of key compositions. Hear the burning-down-the-house highlights of The Blue Note 7's performance at the Kennedy Center.

The Blue Note 7 On JazzSet

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Favorite Sessions

Nicholas Payton: A Different Kind of Blue

WBGO

Trumpeter Nicholas Payton shares three songs from his latest CD, Into the Blue. The New Orleans native talks jazz and what it means to resonate. The new songs show a creative musician who knows himself, and bandmates who understand each other.

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Music

Nicholas Payton: Trumpet Is Essence of New Orleans

Long before Louis Armstrong came along, the trumpet and New Orleans were intertwined. For local jazz legend Nicholas Payton, the instrument represents the essence of the Crescent City.

Nicholas Payton: Trumpet Is Essence of New Orleans

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