Nicholas Payton gets more ass than Wilt Chamberlain -- on one of his better days. And it's not as though this classically trained trumpet player is keeping it a secret. With songs such as "Velvet Handcuffs," "Tantric" and -- I'm not making this one up -- "Stinkie Twinkie," Nicholas Payton is trying to help you, loyal 34th Street reader, get laid. It's a well-known fact that nothing melts the ladies faster than listening to a cool jazz album on a candle-lit night. And if you're a jazz aficionado, you'll appreciate that Sonic Trance is a quality album.
Payton started out by emulating his idol, Louis Armstrong, but his playing quickly mutated into a fusion of 1970s Miles Davis and the abstract patchwork of Sadownick. Brought together, these influences give Payton's music a modern feel -- jazz for the 21st century. Sonic Trance manages to capture in the studio both the anxiousness and the intensity for which Payton's live performances are known. But even if you don't know Sadownick from Brubek, take Street's word for it -- Sonic Trance will get you laid.
