Nicholas Payton, Esperanza Spalding & Karriem Riggins - Triune (2025)

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Nicholas Payton assembles a trio of visionaries with bassist/vocalist esperanza spalding and drummer Karriem Riggins on the album, TRIUNE, which also features guest appearances by Ivan Neville, Erica Falls, Nikki Glaspie, and Otis McDonald.

There is no shortage of remarkable trios in the musical landscape, but few, besides the pathbreaking trumpet player, keyboardist, and composer Nicholas Payton, could bring together three true visionaries and synergize them into one singular creative voice. That’s just what Payton has done with TRIUNE, his exhilarating new album for Smoke Sessions Records, on which he’s joined by bassist and vocalist esperanza spalding and drummer Karriem Riggins.

“TRIUNE means ‘three in one,’ which is exactly how this trio functions,” Payton explains. “Each of us is a leader in our own right, but together we combine to form a unified sound.”

TRIUNE reconvenes a rhythm section that Payton originally assembled in 2010 for a quartet that also included the pianist Taylor Eigsti. Riggins could already boast a decade and a half of impressive credits at that time, bridging diverse areas of Black American Music. He had demonstrated his mastery of swing behind leaders including Mulgrew Miller, Ray Brown, Eric Reed, Oscar Peterson, and Milt Jackson. At the same time, he was deeply immersed in the hip-hop community, collaborating with revered names like Common, J Dilla, Daft Punk, and Erykah Badu.

At the time of that initial quartet, esperanza spalding was still a year away from her shocking Grammy Award win for Best New Artist, but she was a keenly watched rising star with credits including Joe Lovano’s Us Five and work with Stanley Clarke and Mike Stern, among others. Payton clearly recognized the versatility and soulfulness of the two players and was certain that chemistry would ensue.

Always an incisive judge of talent, Payton sings the praises of both musicians. “Karriem has the distinction of being not only one of the most accomplished and sought-after drummers in the straight-ahead scene, but also equally in demand as a beatmaker and producer. Many try to straddle that fence, but no one does it as convincingly as Karriem. esperanza has always had an energy that elevates any situation she’s in. Whether it’s her presence on bass, vocals, or just her overall artistry, she radiates something that reaches people’s hearts in a way I’ve never seen before.”

The soaring trajectory of all three artists’ careers in the intervening years was the only obstacle in bringing them back together once more. “I’d tried over the years to reunite us, but they’re always so busy,” Payton explains. “This time, the planets aligned, and it finally worked. There was never any question of how it would work or how well—it was only a matter of timing.”

With Payton showcasing his ability to simultaneously play trumpet and keyboards and spalding singing as well as playing the bass, the trio on its own has a dazzling ability to expand its scope, but they are also joined by several special guests on the album. Nikki Glaspie, best known as an in-demand drummer with Snarky Puppy, Dumpstaphunk and Beyoncé’s touring band, takes over vocal duties for “Ultraviolet,” a piece from Payton’s “Light Waves Suite.” On a recent gig with Payton, the trumpeter overheard Glaspie humming the song’s melody during soundcheck. “I took that as a sign that Nikki was meant to do it, so I listened to the universe.”

Recorded in his hometown, New Orleans, Payton enlisted Ivan Neville, leader of Dumpstaphunk and member of one of Crescent City music’s royal families, to play organ and sing, along with Soul vocalist and fellow New Orleanian Erica Falls, on the album’s closing track, “#bamisforthechildren.”

“Ivan and Erica are two of New Orleans’ most soulful voices,” Payton says. “I was going for a Sly Stone-style multi-lead vocal approach. I had Ivan ad-lib all the way through, then had Erica stack harmonies over what he did and add her own. Also, my good friend, producer, beatmaker, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and engineer Otis McDonald was hanging in the studio after we recorded it, so I asked him to jump on it as well. Little did I know, shortly after we tracked it, Sly would pass on.”

Nicholas Payton, esperanza spalding, and Karriem Riggins are three of the most distinctive and innovative minds in modern creative music. On TRIUNE, they speak with one singular, utterly captivating and joyous voice.