NEW James Bond Trailer

On President’s Day

Teddy Roosevelt speaks:

On the Nicholas Payton Trio

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The Nicholas Payton Trio recently performed at Chris’ Jazz cafe in Philadelphia and I had the opportunity to hear the band and speak with Payton after the show. Setting all the “controversy” of the #BAM! movement aside, you cannot argue with the strength of Payton’s character and musicality. He was playing trumpet AND a Fender Rhodes keyboard with a trio featuring bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damien Reid. The three moved seemlessly between Payton’s originals, standards and modern soul songs like Erykah Badu’s “Window Seat”:

Did I mention he was playing both trumpet AND Rhodes? Yeah… It was pretty amazing. Go check them out if you get the chance.

On a quasi-related note: I performed with the Captain Black Big Band at Small’s Jazz Club in New York this past Monday which was the perfect opportunity for me to test drive my new ZOOM recorder. Enjoy!

Those Who Lead

“What you do serves as the proof of what you believe.”

A lecture from Simon Sinek:

Read Between the Lines

Is this an inspiring story of American grit or a veiled political agenda ad? You decide.

It’s Time to Move On

Every now and then you come to point that you just need to suspend your reason and move on. Maybe you’ve grown comfortable in the situation you find yourself in. Maybe you’ve grown aggravated. You drive yourself crazy the more you question yourself and the more you analyze the possible outcomes of your decision.

But you only need to answer one question: Is it time? The fact that you are asking yourself this question is answer enough.

Writer’s Block

Thanks for following my new blog these past two weeks. I intend to keep up the work and continue the conversation with all of you. I’ll leave you this week with a quote from saxophonist Stan Getz:

A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other’s ideas.