INDIANAPOLIS, IN (September 24, 2004) — Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, has recently signed rising trumpet star
Nicholas Payton to its roster.
One of the brightest new trumpet artists to emerge in recent years, Nicholas Payton was born in New Orleans, LA into a musical family. His father, a bassist, and mother, an operatic singer and classical pianist, encouraged Payton's interest in music, providing him with his first trumpet at the age of four.
Today, Payton plays a
YTR-8335G Xeno trumpet and has performed on albums with such diverse artists as Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, Elvin Jones, Daniel Lanois,
Chick Corea, Trey Anastasio and
Terry Gibbs.
Payton began gigging at eight years old with his father, and played with the All-Star Brass Band, a traditional jazz youth group. At nine, he sat in with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band and worked steadily in New Orleans throughout high school. He enrolled at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and studied with Ellis Marsalis at the University of New Orleans. At 19, Elvin Jones named him musical director of his renowned Jazz Machine. In addition to touring with Marcus Roberts in 1992 and Jazz Futures II in 1994, Payton has been on the road with Elvin Jones and also worked with the Jazz at Lincoln Center program.
With six solo albums:
From This Moment (1994, Verve);
Gumbo Nouveau (1995, Verve);
Payton's Place (1997, Verve);
Nick @ Night (1999, Verve);
Dear Louis (2001, Verve) and most recently,
Sonic Trance (2003, Warner Brothers), Payton has been nominated for GRAMMY® Awards three times, and won "Best Jazz Instrumental Solo" in 1997 for "Stardust," a collaboration with Doc Cheatham, which appeared on the album entitled
Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton.
"From the beginning, sound has always been the catalyst for the formulation of my musical ideas," says Payton. "As my concept of sound may change from moment to moment, I need an instrument that can go along with me for the ride. Over the years I've tried many horns, but I've always struggled with sacrificing one thing or another. Now with the Yamaha
Xeno trumpet, I no longer need to think about how to overcome the trumpet; all I have to do is ‘be the sound,' and the rest is taken care of."
Check out Nicholas Payton on the web at
www.nicholaspayton.com.
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, 39 West Jackson Place, Suite 150, Indianapolis, IN 46225; telephone (317) 524-6270; e-mail
jwittmann@yamaha.com; or visit
www.yamaha.com/band.
