FEBRUARY 2020 VOLUME 87 / NUMBER 2 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Editor Bobby Reed Reviews Editor Dave Cantor Contributing Editor Ed Enright Creative Director ŽanetaÎuntová Design Assistant Will Dutton Assistant to the Publisher Sue Mahal Bookkeeper Evelyn Oakes ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile Vice President of Sales 630-359-9345 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney Vice President of Sales 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Associate Grace Blackford 630-359-9358 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: DownBeat, P.O. Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale January 21, 2020) Magazine Publishers Association. Á 4 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2020 FEBRUARY 2020 ON THE COVER Members of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band during a recording session 22 Nicholas JOE MEYER Payton ‘Creating Culture’ INTERVIEW BY MARQUIS HILL Trumpeter Marquis Hill interviews one of his key influences: Nicholas Payton. In a wide-ranging conversation, the elder trumpeter discusses the music industry, and incorporating his own vocals and keyboard work into concerts and recordings. Journalist Phillip Lutz contributed to this article, which spotlights one of the most intriguing musicians on the scene today. 36 FEATURES 28 Jimi Hendrix Cover photo of Nicholas Payton shot by Jimmy & Dena Katz at Smoke in New York City on Nov. 1. Info for this venue Revisiting the ‘Stank Groove’ is at smokejazz.com. BY BILL MILKOWSKI 32 Kris Davis Innovation as Motivation 5-Star Review BY HOWARD MANDEL +++++ 36 Gordon Goodwin JOS L. KNAEPEN Total Devotion BY GARY FUKUSHIMA 41 Jazz Venue Guide 54 Kurt Rosenwinkel 57 Marius Neset 61 Tomeka Reid 63 Joe McCarthy DEPARTMENTS 8 First Take 19 WBGO Gala 70 Pro Session 74 Toolshed 21 Hancock Competition BY ANDRÉS VIAL 10 Chords & Discords 78 Jazz On Campus 51 Reviews 72 Transcription 13 The Beat 66 Master Class Dan Wilensky Tenor 82 Blindfold Test 16 Muriel Grossmann BY ROSANA ECKERT Saxophone Solo Roxy Coss 6 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2020 First Take BY BOBBY REED Nicholas Payton (left) was interviewed by Marquis Hill for DownBeat. ADAM MCCULLOUGH Pure, Poetic Payton NICHOLAS PAYTON EXUDES CONFIDENCE, BOTH ON AND OFF THE bandstand. He is a man confident in his musical abilities, his artistic vision and his views of society. In our January issue, critic John Murph’s review of Payton’s new trio album, Relaxin’ With Nick, concludes with this line: “Say what you will about Payton’s polemics, there’s no denying his artistry.” This month’s cover story digs into those polemics—as well as the music on the two-disc concert album, which was recorded at the New York City jazz club Smoke, and released on the venue’s affiliated label, Smoke Sessions Records. The album highlights the magic that trans- pired when Payton (trumpet, piano, Fender Rhodes, vocals, effects and samples) teamed up with two revered veterans: bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. After the DownBeat staff devoured the album, we decided to set up an interview and a photo shoot with Payton at Smoke. We commis- sioned acclaimed trumpeter Marquis Hill to conduct the interview. The results weren’t exactly what we expected—they were better. Payton’s comments are those of a thoughtful artist who has a deep sense of history and a probing conceptualization of where his work fits into the rich river of music created in North America during the past 400 years. DownBeat hired journalist Phillip Lutz to sit in on the interview with Hill and Payton, not really to moderate it, but rather to be “a fly on the wall.” Lutz also attended a Payton show at Smoke and wrote the potent introduction to the interview, which begins on page 22. On Dec. 17, Payton posted on Twitter, “Jazz is not the proper name for anybody’s music. The truth is that jazz as a word is vulgar and pro- fane and we should tear it down ... .” We deeply respect his view, while simultaneously seeing the usefulness of the term “jazz club.” In this issue of DownBeat, we present our International Jazz Venue Guide—a list of places (like Smoke) where you can hear the types of music our magazine spotlights each month. We hope this issue of DownBeat sparks discussion. Let us know what you think. Do you agree with Payton’s points? Is our venue guide helpful? Do our articles on Jimi Hendrix, Kris Davis and Gordon Goodwin adequately illuminate their diverse artistry? We welcome your constructive criticism. Send an email to [email protected] and please put “Chords & Discords” in the subject line. DB 8 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2020 XXX Chords Discords Miles of Intelligence I always enjoy checking out the Blindfold Test, which reveals a lot about a participant’s musical knowledge. Your January guest, Miles Okazaki, JOHN ROGERS proved to be an extremely intelligent and thor- oughly insightful analyst. However, all the tunes in this edition of the Blindfold Test were from the period of 2015 to 2018, which fits a recent trend of utilizing an alarmingly narrow span of time. I have to won- der, is DownBeat afraid the artist won’t be able to identify Joe Pass or a young Pat Martino? Or better yet, after a contestant is stumped by a guitar trio, tell them it was one musician and that his name was Lenny Breau. MARK WRIGHT WARSAW, NEW YORK Miles Okazaki Keep it to Yourself my radio.” The internet and streaming have After many years as a subscriber, I have let changed the game. my subscription to DownBeat lapse. The I live in Baraboo, Wisconsin. My state is main reason is the left-wing politics sprin- the home of award-winning cheeses and kled through so many of the articles in the other agricultural products, but there’s little last few years. jazz on the radio. Thanks to the internet, I In Nat Hentoff’s book Listen to the Sto- have found some great jazz stations. My fa- ries, Bing Crosby was quoted as saying, “I vorite is WDCB (90.9 FM, from the College of never thought it was proper for a performer DuPage in Illinois). In second place is WBGO to use his influence to get anyone to vote (88.3 FM, from Newark, New Jersey). Please one way or another.” help me expand my choices by providing me Personally, I really don’t care what an with a list of other stations to check out. artist’s views are, but if they lead with those BRYANT HAZARD views too often, I won’t buy their music. BARABOO, WISCONSIN DAN DARRAGH GOLDEN, COLORADO Thriving in a Fractured World A big shoutout to Chris Potter who, in the Barber Among the Best article about the Crosscurrents Trio in your I was quite disappointed to not see Patricia November issue, speaks for (almost) all of us Barber’s album Higher on the Best Albums of when he says, “[O]n a deeper level, music is 2019 list in your January 2020 issue. Were the about sharing an experience, the generosi- Best Albums list contributors handcuffed into ty of the musicians and the desire, through only considering releases made available in music, to make something that’s bigger than mass distribution—as opposed to online direct any single one of the participants.” Those purchases? are words to live by as a musician and as a proactive citizen in this fractured world.