Nicholas Payton, Trumpet

Trumpeter Nicholas Payton traces the path of African rhythms from their arrival in the Caribbean through their journey to New Orleans and on to Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and New York. He explores how the music of New Orleans became, in a sense, the world’s first popular music and how its greatest practitioner—Louis Armstrong—became one of the first pop stars. You’ll hear how swing, bebop, R&B, hip-hop, and more share a DNA that connects people around the world.