Fleur Debris Superband
Saturday, May 4, 2013
WWOZ Jazz Tent, Fair Grounds
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
New Orleans, Louisiana

Source: Core Sound Binurals > Edirol r-09 24/44.1 > Sony rcd w500c > Jump Drive
Lineage: Jump Drive > Foobar2000 (dither) > Cool Edit Pro > CDWave > Flac/16
Recorded by Royboy
Transferred on August 17, 2013
Tagging: Flacs tagged with Foobar2000 Live Show Tagger and Cover / Photo added to Tags with MP3 Tag v2.49

01 - Introduction
02 - Drums ->
03 - Instrumental 1
04 - Instrumental 2
05 - Marzique Dancing + (Harold Battiste)
06 - The Backward Step + (Nicholas Payton)
07 - Magnolia Triangle + (James Black)
08 - chatter
09 - Be My Lady (The Meters)
10 - Band Intros


Guest:
+ with Derek Douget - tenor saxophone

Lineup:
-David Torkanowsky - piano, keyboards
-George Porter, Jr. - bass, vocals
-Nicholas Payton - trumpet, electric keyboard
-Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste - drums

Notes:
-- Torkanowsky and Payton did occasional keyboard duets

Fleur Debris lifts Nicholas Payton to trumpet heaven at New Orleans Jazz Fest
New Orleans Jazz Fest Saturday, May 4, 2013
Chris Waddington, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Chris Waddington, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on May 04, 2013 at 7:24 PM, updated May 04, 2013 at 8:09 PM

New Orleans Jazz Fest thrilled me by programming Fleur Debris on Saturday, May 4. And this New Orleans supergroup
went on to oblige an overflow Jazz Tent crowd with an incandescent, soul-drenched performance that easily topped
its astounding 2011 debut at the Fest.

That's not always guaranteed with such potent ingredients: pianist David Torkanowsky; trumpeter Nicholas Payton;
and the molten, funk core of the Meters: bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste. (The quartet
also was joined by Derek Douget, a tenor sax virtuoso who frequently performs with Ellis Marsalis).

Fleur Debris is a grand showcase for artists who like to ignore the genre slots designated for them by the music
industry.

Torkanowsky often does it in a single solo. Among the most distinctive keyboard artists in this musical city,
Torkanowsky can flip from whispers to thunderous gospel chords, from rubato ballads to popping funk in the
course of a few bars. His rhythmic sense is impeccable. His dramatic skills are akin to those of a Pentecostal
preacher. And, dear jazz freaks, he pours out a trove of harmonic ideas in every setting. He did all that and
more on Saturday.

For Porter and Modeliste, Fleur Debris is a chance to explore funk in all its dimensions. On Saturday, they
dished up the backbeats and popping that made them famous, but they also ventured into less familiar territory,
with music that bowed to the venturesome funk of Miles Davis circa 1972, and nodded to the funky hard bop of
Miles Davis circa 1957.

Why the Miles Davis comparison? Perhaps, because Payton, at age 39, can finally claim the mantle. He certainly
made that case on Saturday, and not by playing the student copycat.

Sitting at an electric keyboard, the trumpeter made each of his instruments shine in a program that included his
original music and compositions by New Orleans modernists such as James Black and Harold Battiste. Payton's
keyboard duets with Torkanowsky were especially compelling: splendid mazelike demonstrations of listening skills.
And those duets also evoked the cushioned, multikeyboard sound of certain Davis bands.

Payton's trumpet voice is singular, with an expressive palette that includes half-valve slurs, fluttering scalar
runs, bugle calls, sudden pauses, and a burnished ballad sound that embraces you like a lover on the dance floor.
Payton's solos aren't a string of effects, however. As he stretches over bar lines or marks downbeats with
stratospheric volleys, he's also unscrolling musical narratives, composing in real time as all the great
improvising geniuses have done it. He can start his tales at any point, bring tears to your eyes, make you
jump for joy, and set you to dancing in your chair.

So when you think of Nicholas Payton, think of Miles Davis, but also think of Louis Armstrong, Lee Morgan,
Thad Jones and all the other brass masters in the pantheon of American music. Payton belongs in their company,
and we're lucky that he's in our company, too.


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