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Serbian National Theatre, 12 - 15 November 2008. |
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The NICHOLAS PAYTON QUARTET
Nicholas Payton, trumpet
Marcus Gilmore, drums
Vicente Archer, double bass
Daniel Sadownick, percussions |
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.Thursday, November 13th 2008........ |
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Nicholas Payton was born September 26, 1973, in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a musical family. Encouraged by his mother (pianist and vocalist) and father (bassist and composer) Payton showed talent for music at an early age. He received his first trumpet at four and by age nine was sitting-in with local bands including the Young Tuxedo Brass Band. By the age of 12 he was a member of the All Star Jazz Band that performed and toured extensively even internationally. Growing up he developed a command of several musical instruments besides trumpet including piano, bass, drums, tuba, trombone, clarinet and saxophone. During his high school years, Payton attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts to study with Clyde Kerr Jr. and after graduation attended the University of New Orleans where he studied with Ellis Marsalis.
Payton began to further his professional career in the early nineties performing and touring with many leading jazz musicians including Clark Terry, Marcus Roberts and Elvin Jones. He was dubbed as one of the Young Lions of Jazz by many of the leading jazz publications. In 1994, he formed his own group and recorded his first album “From This Moment” on Verve Records. Payton has recorded 8 albums under his own name including his 1997 GRAMMY® award-winning collaboration with the legendary trumpeter Doc Cheatham shortly before his passing. He has also performed and recorded with scores of musicians from many musical genres from jazz to R&B and hip-hop and is credited on over 100 recordings as a composer, arranger, special guest or sideman.
Payton's most recent release “Into the Blue” on Nonesuch Records is a culmination of many aspects of his storied career. “I feel like this work is an amalgam of every recording I've done up until now. In my early recordings, I was developing my voice by addressing the lineage and continuum of jazz music while my last release Sonic Trance was an effort to break free from it. With Into the Blue, the approach and the ideas have become more singular and cohesive. I had no agenda in terms of a specific genre or style, only to be true to who I am now”.
The recording addresses the themes of love, grace, sophistication, and maturity in an easily accessible musical presentation. “I wanted to make a record that embodied the sensibilities of beauty, elegance, and simplicity. It was important that the music be melodic and danceable”. The elements of love are present throughout the recording – from the love of a man for a woman embodied in “Drucilla”, a musical valentine his father penned years ago for his mother, to a father's love for his sons in “Nida”, also written by Payton's father for his two sons Nicholas and Dario. The recording of the CD itself is a statement of love for Payton's hometown. “Up until now, I've recorded all of my records in New York. Since this project is so personal and melancholic, I thought it would be more fitting to record here in New Orleans. The focal point was strength in subtlety and understatement; a quiet revolution of sorts through love. Even though the city has undergone tremendous change lately, it still represents a consistent foundation for me. It's home”.
Payton engages the listener throughout the recording's ten tunes, from the propulsive funk of “Triptych” to the catchy romp “The Charleston Hop”. “Into The Blue” is a settled musical statement from a young lion who has come of age.
( www.nicholaspayton.com ; www.treelawn.org/payton.htm) |
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Marcus Gilmore (born 1986) was inspired by the music of his grandfather, legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes, who gave him his first set of drums at age 10. He is currently in his senior year at the LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and Performing Arts in New York City. Marcus received the Wynton Kelly Foundation Award, The Wyoming Seminary PAI Best Instrumentalist Award, the Essentially Ellington Best Drum Solo Award, Vail Jazz Festival Ella Fitzgerald Scholarship and the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony. He performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Monterey High School Jazz Band Japan Tour and the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY High School Jazz Ensembles. In 2003, Marcus performed in Bern, Switzerland as part of Clark Terry's "Young Titans of Jazz." The same band gave its New York debut at Birdland last fall. Marcus also loves Afro-Cuban Jazz and plays timbales and Latin percussion. He has performed with Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Vijay Iyer, John Clayton, and others, and has sat in with Chick Corea, Ray Barretto, Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Wycliffe Gordon, and Roy Hargrove. |
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Vicente was born in Woodstock, NY, and here he embraced the rich cultural arts of this historical town by listening to local great jazz artists Dave Holland, Jimmy Cobb, Jack DeJohnette, among many others. He began his musical career on guitar at age sixteen primarily self-taught, learning from his parents Wes Montgomery and George Benson records. During those years he began making a name for himself playing in the Hudson Valley region with variety of ensembles from Albany to New York City. Upon graduation from high school, Vicente was accepted to The New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, MA, where he majored in Jazz Studies. Some of his instructors included guitarist Gene Bertoncini, saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, and Latin/Jazz marvel pianist Danilo Perez. After his first year at NEC, Vicente transferred to Boston's Northeastern University where he switched from guitar to acoustic bass.
Within one year of switching to the bass, the powerful alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, a long-time champion and discoverer of young talent, asked Vicente to join his group. Donald thought so highly of Vicente skills that he used him on his Impulse! release, Free to Be. While still in college, Vicente also began performing in the Eric Reed Trio. After earning a business degree in Management Information Systems and Business Management in June 2000, Vicente moved to New York City where he soon began performing and touring with the likes of Kenny Garrett, Terence Blanchard, Tom Harrell, Freddie Hubbard, Marlena Shaw, Deborah Cox, Louis Hayes, Curtis Fuller, Mark Whitfield, Roy Haynes, Geri Allen, Stanley Jordan, Karrin Allyson, Wycliffe Gordon, Stefon Harris, Janis Siegel, Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra w/ Wynton Marsalis, among many others.
Vicente Archer has emerged as one of today's profound new voices on the bass. He presently divides his duties playing with Robert Glasper and Nicholas Payton. |
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Daniel Sadownick grew up in the South Bronx and always knew he wanted to be a musician since the age of five. It was in his teens however, that he really started to take his career choice seriously. Daniel recalls his first fond memories of really immersing himself in the history of jazz. “I was in high school listening to the progressive pop music of the day (Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Yes, etc.,) when a friend of mine approached me in the hallway at school and gave me ten different jazz recordings to take home, ranging from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ Moanin’ to John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. I remember the manner in which just the cover of A Love Supreme hit me – Trane looking so serious and intense. And, of course when I listened to the record that evening the music just blew me away. Later that week, my friend helped me take all of my rock records to the roof of the thirty-three story building we lived in and we threw them off like they were Frisbees and also blew them up with a C02 Cartridge BB Gun he had. I’ll never forget that turning point in my life”.
Daniel would then later go on to earn his Master's Degree in Musical Education at New York University, where he also studied composition. Upon completing his studies, his Professors and Deans admired his creativity and ingenuity and rewarded him with the prestigious Presser Scholarship, only handed out to the one person whom the University felt was the most influential and original at the school during their tenure. Daniel states, “I was shocked, thinking that they would have given the scholarship to a violinist or pianist who was classically trained since childhood. It was then that I knew that I was blessed with a special gift from God and wanted to make a difference with my music in all aspects; artistically, emotionally and spiritually”.
After receiving his MA he then went on to study privately with percussion masters John Amira and the late, great Frankie Malabe. Daniel states: “Frankie was a brother to me, even a father figure. I could call him up at any time of night to discuss music or any other personal matter. He was one of the most revered players and teachers ever to have graced this planet and unfortunately, he passed away in his prime. He was the most melodic player I have ever met, taking the tradition of this wonderful instrument and combining his own inventions with the folklore”. Daniel also studied drum set with the great, master percussionist Andrew Cyrille who played for many years with Cecil Taylor and Coleman Hawkins among others. “Andrew is a complete musician and he leads by example. He guided me in many ways as a leader of my own bands and as a player and composer”.
Amid his studies Mr. Sadownick toured with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra for two years. It was here that Daniel made numerous contacts that would lead to tours and recordings with jazz greats such as: Michael Brecker, Dennis Chambers, Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride, Richard Bona, Nat Adderley, Dianne Reeves, Nnenna Freelon, Dewey Redman and many others.
A versatile percussionist that does not limit himself to one genre, Daniel has spent the last few years touring and recording with such diverse artists as: Steely Dan, Jennifer Lopez, Billy Idol, Tony, Toni Tone', Maxwell, Angie Stone and Me'shell Ndege'Ocello, Daniel is also a member of the New York based cult band the Screaming Headless Torsos, who were listed as one of the top ten bands in America in Musician Magazine.
Daniel will soon be releasing his long awaited CD. It features all original compositions as well as showcasing the utilization of percussion in a "straight-ahead jazz context." Daniel feels that percussion in jazz at this present stage seems to be limited to a certain style that does not included all the possibilities of the instrument. "I want to include all my influences when I play jazz. That runs the gamut from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to Joe Zawinul; from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa. These musicians were torchbearers and pioneers. I hope that my contributions make a statement that is parallel to these exceptional artists. They were consistent in their commitment to bring passion, intensity, and soul to their music. When I would go to see and hear the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Cecil Taylor, Tony Williams, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Cyrille and others of this incredible caliber perform they would be so serious, conscious, and intense in bringing this art form to life in the highest regard. This is the only way that I want to carry myself. It has to be an event – if not, why even show up?”
Daniel also teaches private studies in percussion and is a Professor at New York University where he feels a responsibility to give back to the students what he has learned from the masters and his own experiences. “One thing I try to tell my students is to be aware of the history of jazz but don’t limit yourself to just one genre. I pride myself in knowing that when I hear a jazz recording on the radio that I know who the entire personnel is, what label it was on and what year it was recorded. But, I also enjoy playing other styles of music – it keeps everything fresh and it keeps you on your toes. I actually even have repurchased some of those rock records that I threw off of the roof back in high school. And, living in New York City is a blessing because it is the cultural center of the world. One has access to the many different peoples, styles and music that cover the range of the globe; Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Rock, Fusion, Classical -- it's all here in this beautiful city. I feel lucky to have been born and raised here." |
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.C u l t u r a l...C e n t r e...o f...N o v i...S a d
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N O V I...S A D...J A Z Z...F E S T I V A L...2 0 0 8.
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