catch trumpeter Nicholas Payton at the UNH Trad Jazz Series 

Nicholas Payton, one of the most well-rounded and gifted jazz trumpet players today, makes his Seacoast area debut when he performs on the next installment of the University of New Hampshire Traditional Jazz Series on Monday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. Payton will work in a quartet setting, with Mike Moreno on guitar, Esset Okun Essiet on bass and Sylvia Cuenca on drums.

A native of New Orleans, the 33-year-old Payton began playing trumpet at age 4. By the age of 8, he had performed his first professional gig, playing with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band. The son of musical parents—his father played bass and his mother was a classical pianist—Payton studied first with Clyde Kerr and then moved on to study with jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis. By his early 20s, Payton had been gigging for several years with a wealth of established artists, including Elvin Jones, Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride and the legendary jazz trumpeter Doc Cheatham (who appeared in several Trad Jazz Concerts himself). Payton and Cheatham made a CD titled “Payton & Cheatham” for Verve records in the mid-1990s, shortly before Cheatham’s death. The CD was one of several that Payton led for the label before he moved on to the Warner Brothers label in 2003.

Payton’s playing is deeply rooted in the tradition of jazz trumpet, ranging from Armstrong to Gillespie, Brown and Hubbard. Yet, like many of his peers, Payton uses those roots to take the music in a forward direction as is evidenced on his 2003 release “Sonic Trance,” a CD that blends jazz influences with African rhythms and the sounds of hip-hop, funk and rock. Payton told Down Beat magazine in a 2003 profile that he was “…ready to make a record that had more of a conscious effort to embrace a contemporary edge.” Among the contemporary pop artists that Payton collaborated with were the rap artist Common and former Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio. In the same Down Beat profile, Payton said. “It’s these experiences that I want to bring to my own work.” 

That evolution includes the latest group setting for Payton. After many years of touring with a standard two-horn-plus-rhythm-section quintet, Payton now places himself in the more open setting of guitar, bass and drums. This allows for greater freedom and interaction among the four members of the band.

A profound respect for the traditions of jazz without being encumbered by those traditions—that’s what Payton and his quartet will bring to UNH on Monday evening. Musicians like Payton are critical to the future of jazz for bringing their contemporary perspective to such a timeless music.

The concert will be held in Johnson Theatre in the Paul Arts Creative Arts Center at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8, or $6 for students and seniors. For more information, contact the UNH Ticket Office at 603-862-2290 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.