Well, I got to see the Nicholas Payton Quintet last weekend. (December 6th) Went up to the famed Jazz Showcase in Chicago. Lovely environment, only a $20 cover, no smoking, no drink minimum, great for listening to good music.
I saw Payton last August at the Chicago Jazz fest, and there were many similarities between the two shows. This time the lineup was Payton on trumpet, Tim Warfield on tenor(he looks just like Jamacan actor Doug E. Doug without the dredlocks!), Anthony Wonsey on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass, and Adonis Rose on drums. At ChiJzFst Warfield was absent and altoist Jesse Davis took his place.
They opened with "Lil Liza Jane" with the whole group romping along. Payton took a great solo here, lots of accenting with his volume and excellent use of the full range of the trumpet. Warfield did a nice job, especially in some repeating sections toward the end of the set with Payton. Wonsey, who blew me away in August, was solid, and again showcased his solid playing with both hands.
Next was a version of "Wild Man Blues" which seemed to be a feature number for Nicholas's trumpet work. He did all kinds of things, from standard Louis sounds to bop licks to just kinda giving a raspy, breathing effect through the horn. Warfield again did a nice job, keeping a nice, light tone to his sound...almost reminding me of the full tone of some of my early Coleman Hawkins recordings. Rogers took a nice solo, making full use of the range of the bass, and freely moving between keeping time during his solo and freeing himself some.
The following tune was a tribute to a 70's funk drummer whose name escapes me, as does the title of the tune. The song itself had that Horace Silver-esque funk tinge to it. This was accentuated by the piano work of Wonsey and the creative timekeeping/fills of Rose.
Next they did a trio version of "Frankie and Johnny" to "Give our wonderful trumpeter a break." The audience got a good laugh with that. The arrangement of this song intrigued me. They took and gave Rogers the intro and ending, and also placed the melody statement in the bass, letting Wonsey keep time and comp mostly with his left hand. However, Wonsey and Rogers got off excellent solos, and Rose displayed some marvelous brush work.
Payton and Warfield rejoined them for an uptempo tune which escapes me. I do remember Warfield having some problems with his mouthpiece and the whole band laughing while playing due to a joke that Wonsey apparently cracked. Warfield struck me to be a very creative soloist. He doesn't seem to really fit into any one style of playing, although you can hear a number of influences on him. This tune also gave Rose a chance to solo, where he did a nice job using space to accentuate his playing. He was very creative and did not settle for using tired out press rolls and bashing on the cymbals in an effort to sound creative, instead he played some nice rhythmic phrases and set up an underlying rhythm that he shifted from the bass drum to the ride cymbal depending on which one he wanted for his phrases.
The last tune I heard was a lush version of "How Deep Is The Ocean?" which Nicholas plays as a tribute to Doc Cheatham. The band was very tender sounding, with Rose on brushes again and Wonsey comping quietly and sparsely. Payton was at his most lyrical here, playing phrase after phrase, but never straying too far from the melody. Warfield sang through his horn, employing a breathy sound that, for some reason, reminded me of Lady Day's singing. Wonsey took a nice relaxed solo, and Rogers stayed in the bass's lower register to keep the soft, full feel of the tune.
Unfortunately I had to leave at this point to catch a train, but as I was walking out Nicholas was introducing a tune that I know I wanted to stay and hear. Oh well. For those who remember my review in August, Wonsey blew me away at that show. This time I was blown away by just how tight this group was. You can tell that they play together a lot. There is a lot of interaction, particularly between the horns and the piano, the piano and the
bass, and the bass and the drums. They hand off timekeeping duties mid song, toss phrases back and forth, and just mesh really well. I would love to keep seeing this group grow, their potential seemed to loom large.