Customer Reviews

Nick@Night

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this soon after it came out, played many times and really liked it. I put it back in rotation recently and have really come to love this cd. These guys smoke! Reminds me of Lee Morgan "Sidewinder" era. Payton and Warfield match up really well and were meant to play together. The tunes are straight ahead bop that never let up. I also found Anthony Wonsey to be a very interesting pianist. The cd didn't strike me as ground breaking, but I'm not a musician so I may be missing something. It is however chock full of great tunes with inspired playing. Definitely check out this cd as well as Payton's "Payton's Place".

I love the beginnings of Payton's CDS. Payton's Place's first track kicks off with that great drum beat and gets the music going with grove that just makes you dance. Gumbo Nouveau kicks off in a similar way with Whoopin' Blues letting you know the theme is New Orleans. This offering starts with some harpsicord that gets the listener ready for some jazz in the same way. The rest of the album did not seem to captivate me as much as the previously mentioned offerings did, However. It is still a wonderful CD and I am very glad to play it in regular rotation.

Though the CD itself isn't as fun or enjoyable as seeing Nick play live - I interviewed him as well as caught his last show here in Salt Lake - it's reminiscent of it and gives the listener nothing but good vibes throughout the entire listening. He's a powerhouse of a performer and only in small ways like Armstrong, though he's making a name for himself in jazz; Nick will be with us for years to come.

Trumpeter Nicholas Payton always seems to deliver the goods, and this recording is no exception. His quintet (Nicholas Payton on trumpet, flugelhorn, harpsichord[!], and celeste; Tim Warfield on soprano and tenor sax; Anthony Wonsey on piano, harpsichord, and celeste; Reuben Rogers on bass; and Adonis Rose on drums) sounds really, really tight, as though they have been playing for a long time as a unit. Payton and Warfield seem to have a special empathy, blending together so tightly that they seem to be reading each other's musical minds--Warfield seeming at times to phrase just like a trumpeter, at other times like a guitarist, weaving his sound together with Payton's lines with impeccable timing.

Ten of the 13 cuts are by Payton, with one each from Rose, Wonsey, and Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White with John Lind. Of special note are Payton's "Faith," which makes use of the delicate sound of the harpsichord, not an instrument usually associated with jazz, and his "Somnia," a lyrical piece that is simply gorgeous. The disk closes with the sound of harpsichords once again on the group's cover of EW&F's "Sun Goddess." Sound quality is excellent throughout.

Yeah. This one is a winner. Payton and his amazing sidemen must have had an extra helping of soul on the date of this recording. They just play so well! From free jazz to bebop, this take has it all. Oh, and also, the song Faith alone is worth the price of the whole CD.

Wow. Sorry. Most of the other reviewers slipped up on this one. This is one of the most amazing of my 200 Jazz CD's. I have nothing better. It's right there with Clifford Brown and others. The 3rd cut Faith, about 8 minutes is other=worldly. Run, don;t walk to buy this. Use Fed-Ex to ship it. Get it in your hands and playing ASAP. I can't tell you how gald I am that I just bought tickets today for his UCLA Concert on February 14th. Wow.

This musical venture by the secure Mr. Payton is all the things Jazz is about, with a relax modern enjoyable hipness to it. Its heavy enough for your purists, yet hip enough for a groovester. The tunes are all very well written with a great feel and soulfull touch. It can sometimes have a R&B sensous sound within a acoustic format that never loses the essence of Jazz ! This for a younger crowd of Jazz fans has to be the best Cd I have heard in years. If your trying to turn on a somewhat hesitate young cat into straight ahead Jazz, this is the CD!

Well, I expected more from this guy, I really did. Usually when I take a disc and see Nicholas Payton in it as a leader or as a side man I know that this is a swingie , hot , tasty one, and usuasly I was right. This album on the other hand was a huge dissapointment. If you want to get know Nicholas payton do not it with this one.