Nicholas Payton, born September 26, 1973, is a New Orleans jazz trumpet player. He is the son of Walter Payton, the bassist and sousaphonist. At the age of 4, he began playing the trumpet and by the age of nine, he was already playing in The Young Tuxedo Brass Band with his father. Wynton Marsalis was a mentor to Payton. He was involved in New Orleans’ brass band music and jazz in his youth. At the age of 12, he played semi-professionally with the All Star Jazz Band at festivals across the United States and Europe. After leaving school, he enrolled at the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts. He then enrolled at the University of New Orleans where he studied under Ellis Marsalis. Payton signed a recording deal with Verve after touring with Marcus Roberts in the early 1990s. His first album, From This Moment was released in 1994. He was featured on the soundtrack to the 1996 movie Kansas City and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Solo in 1997 for his performance on Doc Cheatham.
