Songs in the Keys of Payton
5
By Irish Jazz
A smart, soulful, classic funk soundtrack to whatever you happen to be doing, as long as you can move a bit doing it. Payton mostly plays Fender Rhodes, intending to overdub the solos later, but then decided the music was complete as it. Recorded in Richmond's Jellowstone Studios with the hyper-tight Butcher Brown rhythm section (Cory Fonville, Devonne Harris, Keith Askey and Andrew Randazzo) the tracks are complex enough for dedicated listening and open enough to serve as the foundation for an over-the-top performance. (Payton calls it the "hippest, funkiest, Play-a-Long album that's ever been documented.")
That description, while accurate, runs the risk of selling "Numbers" a bit short. Sometimes the key to art is knowing when to stop. If there are more horns in the cover art than there are on the record... if the lack of trumpet is a bit mystifying in the iTunes snippets... relax. It's like a bottle of fine red wine. You have to uncork it, let it breathe. You won't be disappointed.
