Saunders Sermons and Nicholas Payton

Friday, March 13th

Saunders Sermons and Nicholas Payton

These two GRAMMY winning artists team up for a special evening of jazz excellence at The Velvet Note!

Saunders Sermons is an American singer, trombonist, song writer and a two-time Grammy Award Winner. Born and raised in Miami, FL, Sermons began playing the trombone at the age of 11. Since then, he has grown to become an established independent artist with an admirable music career.

Majoring in jazz studies at the New School in New York City enabled Sermons to flesh out and hone his skills as a trombonist while encouraging him to branch out as a singer and songwriter.  As a trombonist, Sermon’s brassy sounds can be heard on Jay z’s single “Roc Boys” and Fantasia’s single “Two Weeks Notice.” He has performed with hip hop and r&b icons such as 50 Cent, Diddy, and Snoop Dog, with whom Sermons toured Europe and North America, along with Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige.

Nicholas Payton  is widely considered one of the greatest artists of our time. Hailed as a virtuoso before he was even out of high school, his maturation and talent has earned him praise and accolades, as well as insured his place in musical history.  When he was barely in his 20s, Nicholas Payton made his major-label recording debut as a leader with From This Moment (Verve). Since then, Payton has consistently committed himself to developing his distinct voice.

Payton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a musical family. Encouraged by his mother, a pianist and vocalist, and his father the legendary bassist, composer and educator Walter Payton, Nicholas showed talent for music at a very early age. He received his first trumpet at age four and by age nine was sitting-in with local bands including the Young Tuxedo Brass Band.  By the age of 12, he was a member of the All Star Brass Band that performed and toured extensively. As he grew up and studied, Nicholas successfully learned how to play several instruments. In addition to being an accomplished trumpeter, Nicholas plays piano, bass, drums, tuba, trombone, clarinet and saxophone, et al.  During his high school years, Payton attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts to study with Clyde Kerr Jr. and after graduation attended the University of New Orleans where he studied with Harold Battiste and Ellis Marsalis.

As a leader, he has recorded: From This Moment (1994, Verve); Gumbo Nouveau(1995, Verve); Payton’s Place (1998, Verve); Nick@Night (1999, Verve); Dear Louis(2001, Verve); Sonic Trance (2003, Warner Bros.); Into The Blue (2008, Nonesuch);Bitches (2011, In+Out Records); and GRAMMY® award-winning collaboration with Doc Cheatham, the legendary trumpeter, entitled Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton (1997, Verve).