UCLA Performing Arts Nicholas Payton
will play in Royce Hall at the Louis Armstrong Centennial
Celebration.
By Laura Morgan
Daily Bruin Contributor
On his hundredth birthday, Louis Armstrong will be in Royce
Hall.
Not the man himself, but his familiar toe-tapping rhythms will
return, courtesy of Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton
and legendary drummer Roy Haynes.
Payton and Haynes will celebrate Armstrong’s centennial
birthday in Nicholas Payton’s Louis Armstrong Centennial
Celebration in Royce Hall tonight at 8 p.m.
“All the songs we will be playing have either been
performed or recorded by Armstrong,” Payton said in a recent
interview. “They are also on the album “˜Dear
Louis,’ which we recorded and dedicated to him.”
In addition to releasing “Dear Louis,” Payton is
touring the U.S. to both promote his album and honor the famed
musician. The stop in Los Angeles will be the only engagement where
Payton will play with the Roy Haynes Group, founded by Haynes.
Payton is a New Orleans native who knows what it’s like to
take a stroll down Bourbon Street, a street made famous by jazz
musicians during the early 20th century. Growing up in a musical
household, he began playing the trumpet at age four. His mother was
a classical pianist and his father was a respected bassist. As
early as age eight, Payton began playing gigs with his father.
Although Payton was well known for his mature jazz skills, he
decided to continue his official jazz training at the University of
New Orleans with Ellis Marsalis. These days he finds touring takes
up nine to 10 months of the year.
“I don’t have the leisure with time to practice as
much as I used to,” Payton said. “Most of the time
I’m practicing when I’m actually performing.”
Like Payton, Roy Haynes started his musical career at an early
age. The Boston native received his first drum lesson at the age of
nine. He still remembers getting started as a child.
“I had an older brother and he had some drumsticks around
the house,” Haynes said. “I think he may have played in
the high school marching band or something and I just picked up his
drumsticks. I was playing all over the dishes, breaking my
mother’s dining room dishes and it started from
there.”
Soon after his initial drum lessons, Haynes knew this was
something he planned on doing for the rest of his life.
“As they said in the old days, I was a natural player. I
had the feeling ever since I could remember,” Haynes
said.
The artists’ natural knack for jazz led to strong support
among jazz fans everywhere.
Since launching his much anticipated recording career in 1995,
Payton has released six albums, and earned a Grammy Award for best
solo jazz performance.
Even though both Payton and Haynes share a deep love for jazz,
there is something that sets them apart. Payton is only 27 years
old and was surrounded by the music of the early 1980s growing up,
while 75-year-old Haynes was able to work firsthand with many of
the jazz greats of the 1940s.
As a young trumpeter, Payton finds himself immersed in a music
movement conquered by those that grew up during the swing era.
“I’ve always tried to work with many of the masters,
even as a youth,” Payton said. “I have been fortunate
to work with many greats.”
Although Payton has worked side by side with many influential
jazz masters, Haynes has had the experience of playing with the
best. At one time, Haynes was the drummer for Charlie
Parker’s band.
“I heard Charlie Parker in 1949 when I was playing with
Lester Young, one of the greatest saxophonists of all time,”
Haynes said. “There was this new type of music, bebop, and it
was becoming pretty popular, and I was one of the drummers involved
in that, so Charlie Parker just called me up one time and offered
me the job with him.”
Aside from playing with Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan and the John
Coltrane Quartet, Haynes has had the honor and privilege of playing
with the great “Satchmo” himself, Louis Armstrong.
“I was fortunate enough to play with Armstrong for one
week when he had the big band in 1946,” Haynes said. “I
was very young then. I was in my twenties. It was an 18-piece band
at the time, so it wasn’t a combo like you see these
days.”
Although Payton and Haynes play different instruments and come
from different backgrounds, there is one person that has brought
them together ““ the great Armstrong. By having this in common
and by sharing their gifts with others, they have both been able to
authenticate jazz like no one else.
Armstrong was known for his trumpet virtuosity and original
style. He became one of the most influential instrumentalists,
gaining both the respect and adoration of musicians from all
generations and walks of life. There are numerous books, tribute
albums and even Web sites dedicated to the great
“Satchmo.”
Like Armstrong, Payton and Haynes enjoy substantial critical
acclaim. Payton was voted one of Jazztimes Readers Poll’s
best trumpet players.
“Having those accolades is always very nice,” Payton
said. “But I’m always continuing to develop and
grow.”
Haynes also received recognition from the Jazztimes Readers Poll
for his accomplishments in drumming in the jazz industry.
“It feels good to be one of the best,” Haynes said.
“It’s very inspiring to wake up every day and know that
you are one of the best.”
MUSIC: Nicholas Payton’s Louis Armstrong
Centennial Celebration with the Roy Haynes Group will take place at
UCLA’s Royce Hall tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are available for
$40, $30, $25 and $12 for UCLA students with valid I.D. at the UCLA
Central Ticket Office, online at www.performingarts.ucla.edu
and at all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information call (310)
825-2101.