Nicholas Payton


Nicholas Payton is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a writer who comments on subjects including music, race, politics, and life in America.

Biography

The son of bassist and sousaphonist Walter Payton, he began playing the trumpet at the age of four and by age nine was sitting in with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, alongside his father. He began his professional career at ten years old as a member of James Andrews' All-Star Brass and was given his first steady gig by guitarist Danny Barker at The Famous Door on Bourbon Street. He enrolled at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and then at the University of New Orleans.
File:Nicholas Payton at The Blue Note, NYC.jpg|thumb|Nicholas Payton with John Scofield and Vicente Archer at The Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC
After touring with Marcus Roberts and Elvin Jones in the early 1990s, Payton signed a contract with Verve Records; his first album, From This Moment, appeared in 1995. In 1996, he performed on the soundtrack of the movie Kansas City, and in 1997, received a Grammy Award for his playing on the album Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton.
After seven albums on Verve, Payton signed with Warner Bros. Records, releasing Sonic Trance, his first album on the new label, in 2003. Besides his recordings under his own name, other significant collaborations include Trey Anastasio, Ray Brown, Ray Charles, Daniel Lanois, Dr. John, Stanley Jordan, Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Zigaboo Modeliste, Marcus Roberts, Jill Scott, Clark Terry, Allen Toussaint, Nancy Wilson, Dr. Michael White, and Joe Henderson.
In 2004, he became a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective. In 2008, he joined The Blue Note 7, a septet formed in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. In 2011, he formed a 21-piece big band ensemble called the Television Studio Orchestra. In 2011, he also recorded and released Bitches, a love narrative on which he played every instrument, sang, and wrote all of the music. In 2012, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra commissioned and debuted his first full orchestral work, The Black American Symphony. And in 2013, he formed his own record label, BMF Records, and the same year released two albums, #BAM Live at Bohemian Caverns, where he plays both trumpet and Fender Rhodes, often at once, and Sketches of Spain, which he recorded with the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.
In 2024, he was announced as chair of the Brass Department at Berklee College of Music.
In 2025, renewed public attention was given to past statements made by Nicholas Payton, some dating back to 2010, which critics described as antisemitic. Payton rejected these characterizations, stating that his remarks were taken out of context and did not reflect antisemitic views.
Similar allegations had previously been raised in 2021 during Payton’s tenure as a visiting artist at the Berklee College of Music. According to Payton, Berklee reviewed the matter at that time and Nicholas was permitted to continue his affiliation with the institution. He remained associated with Berklee in subsequent years and was appointed Chair of the Brass Department in 2024.
In 2025, Berklee College of Music ended Payton’s appointment as Chair following renewed public discussion of the earlier allegations. Berklee did not publicly release detailed findings or a formal statement outlining the basis for the decision. Payton stated that he was not provided with a formal review process or explanation and reiterated his denial of the allegations.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

New Orleans Collective

With Wessell Anderson, Christopher Thomas, Peter Martin and Brian Blade
  • New Orleans Collective
SFJAZZ Collective
  • SFJazz Collective
  • SFJazz Collective 2
The Blue Note 7
With Elvin Jones
  • Youngblood
  • Going Home – rec. 1992
  • It Don't Mean a Thing – rec. 1993
With Greg Osby
  • St. Louis Shoes
  • Public
With Jimmy Smith
  • Damn!
  • Angel Eyes: Ballads & Slow Jams
With others