Nicholas Payton ← THE MATRIX of FABULOUS DISCOVERIES

Worldlines from Nicholas Payton: I'LL TAKE YOU THERE! ▶

Worldlines to Nicholas Payton:

A short series of steps can potentially carry anybody anywhere on the planet between all other artists and Nicholas Payton, by the same seemingly magical mathematics which dictates that in human society there are between Nicholas Payton and you 6 or fewer degrees of separation.

WE BUILT THE MATRIX TO MAKE BRAZILIAN MUSICIANS DISCOVERABLE FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE. TO WORK FOR THEM, IT HAS TO WORK FOR EVERYBODY

ma·trix /ˈmātriks/ originally "source", from "mater", Latin for "mother". We're real mothers for ya!

Who's taking you???

Outgoing curation by: The Matrix

Who I Am & Where I Live

Name: Nicholas Payton
City: New Orleans
Country: United States

My Life & Work

Bio: Multi-instrumentalist, composer and trumpet master, Nicholas Payton is one of the most important artists working and recording today. A virtuoso before he was out of high school, his talent and skills have earned him praise and accolades and ensured his place in musical history. Spanning a multitude of musical genres, Payton has composed and arranged, performed and recorded with his own groups in many settings, including solo, duo, trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, 21-piece big band, as well as his 2012 full orchestral work The Black American Symphony.

Payton is the president of his own successful independent label Paytone Records. The latest project is the Afro-Caribbean Mixtape where he seamlessly merges contemporary music, African rhythms, and the voices of historical figures with a performance and execution that is unmatched. Payton notes, “It is often said that New Orleans is the northernmost region of the Caribbean. Africa is the source of all rhythms. The Afro-Caribbean Mixtape is a study of how those rhythms were dispersed by way of the Middle Passage throughout Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico, then funneled through the mouthpiece of New Orleans to North America and the rest of the world.”

Payton was born into a musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana. He showed talent for music at a very early age. He received his first trumpet at age 4 and by age 9 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 Brass Band that performed and toured extensively. As he developed and studied, Nicholas successfully learned how to play several instruments. In addition to being an accomplished trumpeter, Nicholas plays piano, bass, drums, tuba, trombone, clarinet and saxophone, et al. 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 Harold Battiste and Ellis Marsalis, among others.

When he was barely in his 20s, Nicholas made his major-label recording debut as a band leader on Verve Records. Since then, he has recorded a multitude of albums, as well as performed world-wide with his own groups and as a special guest. At age 25, Nicholas won a Grammy Award for his collaboration with Doc Cheatham.

Payton has toured the world with Ray Brown, Elvin Jones and lists significant collaborations including Trey Anastasio, Ray Charles, Daniel Lanois, Dr. John, Stanley Jordan, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, Joe Henderson, Zigaboo Modeliste, Marcus Roberts, Jill Scott, Clark Terry, Allen Toussaint, Chucho Valdes, Dr. Michael White, Nancy Wilson, and many more. He recently produced a brilliant Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald for the gifted singer Jane Monheit. He is credited on over 140 recordings as a composer, arranger, special guest or sideman.