The professor of music had an article published in the professional trumpet journal.
Professor of Music Thomas Erdmann had a 6,000-word article published in the June 2017 issue of The International Trumpet Guild Journal.
The article is on trumpeter, pianist, (saxophonist, clarinetist, drum/percussionist, bassist, trombonist, tubaist, and almost countless others), vocalist, composer, arranger, producer, conductor, and educator, Nicholas Payton. Born into a musical family on September 26, 1973, in New Orleans, dad Walter was a bassist, sousaphonist, and educator who can be heard on many early New Orleans R&B recordings including Lee Dorsey’s “Working In The Coal Mine” and Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is.” Payton’s mother is a former operatic singer and classical pianist.
When Nicholas was young, musicians like Ellis Marsalis and Professor Longhair would come rehearse with Walter in their home. Starting trumpet at four, Payton was sitting in with bands like the Young Tuxedo Brass Band by nine, and at twelve was a member of James Andrews’ All-Star Brass Band and guitarist Danny Barker’s band at The Famous Door on Bourbon Street.
Following studies at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and the University of New Orleans, Payton toured in the early ‘90s with different bands including The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. Signed to Verve Records in 1994, Payton was later featured on the movie soundtrack “Kansas City” and earned a Grammy for Best Instrumental Solo on the “Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton” album.
Payton is also a highly sought after side musician playing with others including Ray Brown, Ray Charles, Dr. John, Stanley Jordan, Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Joe Henderson, Zigaboo Modeliste, Jill Scott, Clark Terry, Allen Toussaint, Nancy Wilson, and Dr. Michael White, to list a few. As part of many all-star bands Payton was a founding member of the SF Jazz Collective and the Blue Note 7.
Payton’s evolution continues. He writes for and leads the 21-member Television Studio Orchestra, was commissioned by the Czech National Symphony to write and perform “The Black American Symphony,” created musical door opening recordings like Sonic Trance, and started his Paytone Records label.
On the critically praised “Bitches” Payton sang, wrote, arranged, produced the music and played every instrument. He redid “Sketches Of Spain” live with the Basel Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dennis Russell Davies which was described by the Chicago Tribune as “(one of the) Best jazz recordings of 2013.” His recording “#BAM Live At Bohemian Caverns,” as well as “Numbers” and “Letters,” features the trumpeter playing keyboards and trumpet, sometimes simultaneously, and his new quintet is featured on 2016’s “Afro-Caribbean Mixtape.”
In addition to his many worldwide clinics Payton also taught as a Distinguished Artist and Visiting Lecturer at Tulane University from 2011 to 2013. The New York Times called him “Ferociously gifted,” and the Wall Street Journal wrote, “Mr. Payton’s gifts as a trumpet soloist have never been open to question, and now with this latest effort (Studio Television Orchestra) he establishes himself as a composer-arranger-maestro on par with any working today.”