Jul 29, 2025 1:45 PM
Opinion: Between Divisiveness & Understanding
We live in divisive times. Earlier this year, we learned that the gifted composer, bandleader and trumpeter Nicholas…
Nicholas Payton looked very zen in this photo used for a feature in the January 2024 edition of DownBeat. His departure from Berklee College of Music was anything but.
Jul 29, 2025 1:45 PM
We live in divisive times. Earlier this year, we learned that the gifted composer, bandleader and trumpeter Nicholas…
“One of the first things I checked out heavily when I got serious about playing music was Weather Report’s Heavy Weather,” Payton says of his early influences.
Jan 23, 2024 1:06 PM
There was a time, back in the mid-’90s, when trumpeter Nicholas Payton was being hyped as a Young Lion on the scene.…
Payton plans to revisit and re-orchestrate his first symphonic work with the goal of reorganizing it to reflect who he is today.
Sep 12, 2023 2:57 PM
Nicholas Payton has been awarded a major grant from South Arts to record The Black American Symphony, which he wrote 10…
Joe Lovano—along with Ben Street and Andrew Cyrille—are set to stream a pair of performances this week.
Jul 1, 2020 1:21 PM
As performers look to replace income from lost gigs and regain a sense of community amid the coronavirus pandemic, a…
Romain Collin took this photo from a cabin in Iceland, where the pianist stayed for weeks during the coronavirus pandemic.
Apr 21, 2020 9:04 AM
With the coronavirus pandemic spreading around the world, the United States government on March 11 announced tight…
During his concerts, Nicholas Payton frequently plays keyboards and trumpet simultaneously.
Feb 7, 2020 2:55 PM
Nicholas Payton is very much a self-starter. The 46-year-old New Orleans native—known as much for the currency of his…
Jun 16, 2022 1:08 PM
Jan 25, 2022 1:31 PM
Nov 14, 2019 1:09 PM
