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Nicholas Payton: Relaxin' with Nick
ByPeter Washington
bassb.1964

Kenny Washington
drumsb.1958

Nicholas Payton
trumpetb.1973
As he's also proven with his game defining recordings such as 2017's Afro-Caribbean Mixtape (Paytone Records), Dear Louis ( Verve/Universal, 2001) and Gumbo Nouveau (Verve/Polygram, 1995), Payton can invoke jazz's then and now on command and not sound moored or owing to either. Both Washington's are on their A-Game, and they have to be, as Payton upshifts from the bluesy smooth title track to the funky, over-driven Fender modulations and swirling tempo shifts of

Benny Golson
saxophone, tenor1929 - 2024
Found originally on Payton's otherworldly Afro-Caribbean Mixtape (CD Baby, 2017), a sample of Cuban trumpet master Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, propels the rolling cha-cha. "Jazz Is a Four Letter Word" not only features another vocal sample, this time from

Max Roach
drums1925 - 2007

Ahmad Jamal
piano1930 - 2023

Wynton Kelly
piano1931 - 1971
Recorded on May 30, 31 and June 1st of 2019, Relaxin' with Nick captures all the chill of not only the three jazz masters on Smoke's small stage, but the hushed yet buoyant anticipation of everyone in the room, wondering where they'll go from the stylish hop of "1983," to reveling in "I Hear A Rhapsody," to the generous, bopping, all-hands-on-deck gyrations of "Five." And let's give one last shout out to Kenny and Peter Washington, two superiors in their own right, who give themselves over entirely to Payton's truly intriguing trip. ">
Track Listing
Disc 1: Relaxin' with Nick; C; El Guajiro; Stablemates; Eight; Jazz is a Four-Letter Word; Otello; Tea For Two. Disc 2: 1983; F (for Alex Foley); A; I Hear A Rhapsody; Five; When I Fall in Love; Praalude.
Personnel
Nicholas Payton
trumpetNicholas Payton: trumpet, piano, electronics, vocals; Kenny Washington: drums; Peter Washington: bass.
Album information
Title: Relaxin' with Nick | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Smoke Sessions Records
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Nicholas Payton Concerts

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY

Nicholas Payton Group
Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubNew York, NY
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