Headline event of the 6th annual jazz festival at Yale put together by the Yale undergraduate jazz collective. The emcee for the evening, I'm assuming the spokeskid for the UJC, breezed in carrying his longboard (skateboard), the preferred mode of transportation for a twenty-something jazz fan. Sudler Hall filled to capacity to see Grammy winner and New Orleans trumpeter Payton. Joined onstage by a couple of young lions, Barry Stepehson on standup bass, and Joe Dyson on drums, the trio played much from the excellent recent release Afro-Caribbean Mixtape. Payton moved easily from trumpet to organ then piano fleshing out multiple sounds from the tight trio. Stephenson's deft bass work held the pace while Dyson's drum fills with brushes and sticks made him sound more experienced for his young age. Payton also had some tape loops of spoken passages that seemed to emanate from his phone stationed on the piano, he even plaintively sang a tune. Payton is an icon, gaining popularity scoring Spike Lee films in the 90s. Show highlight was an audience participation number " Jazz is a Four Letter Word".
No comments:
Post a Comment