[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB9dNPu0o_c[/youtube]

Tonight, Nicholas Payton performs a free show with his trio supported by the Tulane University Big Band at Dixon Hall on the Tulane campus at 7 p.m. Payton is the Jazz Artist-in-Residence at Tulane, and he recently ruffled the feathers of the jazz world when he declared that jazz died in 1959 in a blog post titled, “On Why Jazz Isn’t Cool Anymore …”. His provocative blog posts followed the recording and eventual release of Bitches, an album that effectively called genre-related notions into question as it incorporates jazz, R&B and hip-hop. Whether you agree with his thoughts or not, this interview demonstrates that he thinks seriously and interestingly about music, history and culture.

As an extra, here’s the audio of a duet between Payton and Esperanza Spalding on “Freesia” from Bitches.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2_hhgKBqks[/youtube]