Nicholas Payton Sonic Trance CD

Personnel: Nicholas Payton (vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn, keyboards, bass, drum); Tim Warfield (soprano & tenor saxophone); Kevin Hays (vocals, recorder, keyboards, piano); Vincente Archer (bass); Adonis Rose (drums); Daniel Sadownick (percussion); Karriem Riggins (samples).
Recorded at Right Track Studios, New York, New York.
SONIC TRANCE was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Changing labels from Verve to Warner Bros. and dropping any connection to his neo-bop past, trumpeter Nicholas Payton has crafted a funk-jazz album that unabashedly resurrects iconic trumpeter Miles Davis' wah-wah-laden fusion experiments epitomized by his 1969 opus, Bitches Brew. More slavish to the period than trumpeter Wallace Roney's No Room for Argument, but no less hip-hop-influenced than trumpeter Roy Hargrove's Hard Groove, Sonic Trance is nonetheless far from your average major-label jazz release. Featuring saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Vicente Archer, drummer Adonis Rose, and percussionist Daniel Sadownick, the group gains much au courant hip-hop aestheticism from the addition of drummer/producer extraordinaire Karriem Riggins. Besides performing with such heavy hitters as bassist Ray Brown and pianist Mulgrew Miller, the Detroit native has cut out a crossover niche for himself programming and producing in the hip-hop and electronica world, working most notably with rapper Common. He brings beats and soundscapes to Sonic Trance that elevate it to something that does feel somewhat new. Between Hays' ambient and expansive use of period keyboards, Riggins' deft electronic additions, and Payton's heavily effected horn, the overall sound can often become deliciously messy with organic sounds mixing into the synthetic. Musically, Payton sounds more energized than he has in years digging into the wah-wah with some nasty low-tone smears and multi-tone runs while celebrating Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti on "Fela 1." Similarly, he and Warfield take trad jazz to new heights interpolating the melody to "Cannabis Leaf Rag" like Thelonious Monk splitting an aperitif with Jelly Roll Morton at Studio 54. Of course, nothing Payton has done in the past can prepare you for his humorous and boisterous dancehall-style jibber-jabber rap on "Shabba Unranked." This isn't the totally innovative sound fans of forward-looking jazz may be waiting for, but just as the disciples of Wynton Marsalis re-explored/reinvented bebop, Payton and friends have turned their ears "out"-ward and could be on the path to a truly "new thing." ~ Matt Collar
New Orleans trumpeter Nicholas Payton spent the 1990s getting in touch with his roots by digging deeply into the work of Louis Armstrong, as well as composing music inspired by the Satchmo sound. He was seen as the savior of trad jazz lovers, but with SONIC TRANCE, Payton leaves the past behind at last, moving both feet firmly into the future. In place of old-school ways, Payton surrounds his always-inspired trumpet playing with funk and hip-hop beats, samplers, and a variety of synthesizers and assorted electric keyboards.
Not only does Payton place himself in new sonic settings, he alters the sound of his own trumpet through a variety of effects, so that his already-impressive improvisational voice is given new avenues to explore. New arrival Kevin Hays proves to be a perfect foil for Payton, coating his emotive exhortations in attractive musical raiment, by turns dreamy and urgent. Instead of an out-and-out fusion of jazz and electronic a la Matthew Shipp's work on the Thirsty Ear label, this is essentially a contemporary jazz recording that bears echoes of Miles Davis's '70s experimentalism while still looking towards tomorrow.

Award Winner

Mojo (Publisher) (12/03, p.120) - 4 stars out of 5 - "A multi-faceted, modern triumph."