Sonic Trance

Nicholas Payton | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 9, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B0000AKQHZ
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,408 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating to listen to jazz transforming itself, September 23, 2003

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sonic Trance (Audio CD)

Dave Douglas, Guillermo Brown, Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Bad Plus, Pharoah Sanders/Graham Haynes, Roy Hargrove, John Scofield, Garage a Trois, Brad Meldhau, Christian McBride--these are just a few of the artists trying to move the music beyond its post-bop/free-bop doldrums. Their strategy may not be new--the incorporation of seemingly alien elements (hip-hop, trance, jam-band, electronica) into a firmly established esthetic--but the sounds they're coming up with sure are.

With his new release, Sonic Trance, Nicholas Payton has gone as far as anyone in the direction of a genuinely new approach. Interestingly, Payton appears to be in it for the long haul: This disc is a kind of documentation of what's happening with him and his working band (Payton, trumpet, flugelhorn, effects; Tim Warfield, tenor and soprano sax; Kevin Hays, keyboards; Vicente Archer, bass; Adonis Rose, drums; Daniel Sadownick, percussion; Karriem Riggins, sampler). An interesting mix of players, to be sure. For example, Karriem Riggins, himself a young drummer of note, in this band is relegated to sampled sounds; Kevin Hays, who started out as just another young-lion post-bop pianist, is heard almost exclusively on electric keyboards; Daniel Sadownick, a percussionist of note, provides a much richer percussive underpinning than I've ever heard from him before.

What does it sound like? A heady stew of tradition and wild experimentation. Take "Blu Hays," the closest thing to a straight jazz number. It cooks along with a traditional acoustic walking bass, but Hays tweaks his piano with weird effects, Sadownick lays down a killer percussion base, and Payton solos with wild abandon. Other numbers, such as "Stinkie Twinkie (remix)," venture much farther into musical hinterlands, with equally startling effect. In a single tune, you're likely to hear funky, fuzzed-out keyboards, whistles, bird calls, unidentifiable percussion effects, sax drones, blats, prepared acoustic piano, and wah-wah trumpet. But somehow, it all becomes integrated into a marvelously rich soundscape that never palls, never seems contrived, no matter how alien and even mannered some of it sounds. My favorite cut is "Two Mariachis on the Wall" (or it could be "Two Mexicans on the Wall": the first appears on my media player screen as the title; the second as the title on the disc sleeve--maybe it has two titles, I don't know). There's some real bizarreness happening here: It starts out with a drunken calliope-like quote from "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" then morphs into some faux "Sketches of Spain" lunacy, with everyone going ten directions at once, then ends with a very atmospheric coda with Kevin Hays playing a mesmerizing piano line and Vicente Archer sounding like three bassists at once punctuated by occasional Sadownick's slap-happy maracas. All in all, there's a suite-like thing going on as songs tend to fade into one another.

Maybe not the Last Word in the Nu Jazz, but certainly a bold statement from a band to contend with.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A New Direction for a Brilliant Talent, January 15, 2004

By 

Matt Rubin (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sonic Trance (Audio CD)

Nick Payton is without a doubt one of the finest young trumpeters in jazz today. Though he has often been pigeon-holed as a traditional or hard-bop player, with this album he breaks the mold in a big way. If the blues had a baby named Rock and Roll, what do you call the baby of Rock, Jazz, Funk, Electronica, Reggae, and Mariachi? Nick calls it Sonic Trance.

This album is mind bending. The dense layers of sound beg for focused listening, while the deep grooves beg for you to shake your ass. Why only 4 stars then? Because I just saw the group live. The way the band performs, the music seems to become programmatic, taking me on an emotional journey like nothing I've experienced before. It tops the CD, and makes me wish the band had toured before they recorded. I guess Nick might just have to issue a live album!

Let yourself enter a Sonic Trance. It's worth it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars progressive, deep, and genius, October 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sonic Trance (Audio CD)

I had the opportunity to sit down and listen to this album recently and was simply blown away! If your idea of "jazz" is more progressive than your average Foney James fan, then do yourself a favor and pick up this album! I have to admit that it takes a lot of talent to infuse the likes of Weather Report, the Beatles, A Tribe Called Quest, and Edgard Varese into one musical statement.

Mr. Payton, much love! Thanks for the new joint; 'tis mighty tasty!

Other similarly progressive albums that should be required listening for you and your loved ones:

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Heartcore
Herbie Hancock - Future 2 Future (check out the DVD...SOLID)
Dave Douglas - Freak In
Vernon Reid (formerly of Living Color) - Mistaken Identity
A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
Digable Planets - Blowout Comb