Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Payton plans to revisit and re-orchestrate his first symphonic work with the goal of reorganizing it to reflect who he is today.
(Photo: Courtesy of South Arts)Nicholas Payton has been awarded a major grant from South Arts to record The Black American Symphony, which he wrote 10 years ago.
Through the project, the Grammy-winning trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist and composer will revisit and re-orchestrate his first symphonic work with the goal of reorganizing it to reflect who he is today. It will be recorded at Sear Sound studio in New York. The announcement marks a milestone in Payton’s career, as he continues to push the boundaries of Black American Music.
Following South Arts’ open call for applications in early 2023, more than 220 applications were reviewed by a panel of specialists in the music field on the criteria of artistic excellence, project narrative, residency outcomes, capacity and more. The panel reflected diverse racial, ethnic, gender and geographic representation as well as range of aesthetic points of view. Artists who applied were able to define their projects based on their own career’s needs and request up to $40,000 to support projects occurring between July 2023 and June 2024.
Since its establishment in 1975, South Arts has been dedicated to supporting the arts and cultural ecosystem of its nine-state region, which covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. For more information on the Jazz Road Creative Residency program or South Arts’ other programs, visit southarts.org.
Upcoming performances by the Nicholas Payton Band include shows at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival on Sept. 19, San Francisco’s Black Cat Jazz Supper Club on Oct. 12–14, Gold Diggers in Los Angeles on Oct. 16 and New York’s Smoke Jazz Club on Nov. 16–19. DB
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.
Apr 22, 2025 11:50 AM
Francis Davis, an august jazz and cultural critic who won both awards and esteem in print, film and radio, died April…
“Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”
May 20, 2025 11:58 AM
Branford Marsalis was on the road again. Coffee cup in hand, the saxophonist — sporting a gray hoodie and a look of…
“What did I want more of when I was this age?” Sasha Berliner asks when she’s in her teaching mode.
May 13, 2025 12:39 PM
Part of the jazz vibraphone conversation since her late teens, Sasha Berliner has long come across as a fully formed…
