Nicholas Payton joins bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Mark Whitfield at New York's Jazz Standard for 12 sets over five nights, beginning tonight.

JamBase's Brian Bavosa spoke with Payton about Into the Blue, his first album for Nonesuch, released this past April. The writer asserts that, while Payton may be described by the various adjectives generally used to describe jazz musicians—"cool," "hip," etc.—he also earns "a few others all his own, especially on his Nonesuch Records debut ... [U]ltimately Payton has a style and mood all his own."

Bavosa explains:

Often compared to Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis because of his technique and approach, Payton is a true student of jazz, studying under and being directly influenced by Wynton Marsalis. Into The Blue is clearly colored by his predecessors and includes a tasteful hint of Latin funk. The album also paints noticeable brushstrokes of Davis and John Coltrane ... However, don't let this fool you, Payton's effort is no imitation. 

At the end of the profile, Bavosa concludes that Payton "is honest, and Into The Blue is a true reflection of his background of all styles, themes and walks of life from New Orleans to jam band."
 
To read the complete article, visit jambase.com.

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Jazz.com has posted a conversation with Payton as well, this one taken from an extensive interview he gave to Ted Panken on New York's WKCR, 89.9 FM, in June, in which Panken describes the trumpeter's efforts on Into the Blue as evidence of "an ample comfort zone with a trumpet continuum spanning Armstrong to Don Cherry, at the service of a conceptual sensibility that embraces the Hot Five and Weather Report in equal measure."

To read the complete interview transcript, visit jazz.com.

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For information on this week's shows in New York, visit jazzstandard.net. For Nicholas Payton's upcoming tour dates, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.