Nicholas Payton, Butcher Brown – A Supreme Blue (2xLP, Limited Edition)

Nicholas Payton & Butcher Brown’s A Supreme Blue arrives in the centennial year of Miles Davis and John Coltrane as a full-album response to two pillars of jazz history: Kind of Blue and A Love Supreme. Rather than treating those records as museum pieces, Payton and the Richmond collective recast their material through a contemporary rhythmic language shaped by modal harmony, African-rooted pulse, house music, and dub-minded studio texture. It’s a smart premise, but more importantly one that gives these familiar themes a real sense of movement.

The project grew from an unplanned guest appearance, when Payton sat in with Butcher Brown and began quoting “Acknowledgement” over a house-inflected groove. That spark makes sense here: Payton had already built a long creative relationship with drummer Corey Fonville, and the album plays like a meeting of shared instincts rather than a star-with-backing-band session. Recorded at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond with minimal preparation and no rehearsal, the performances were allowed to emerge in the room, with engineer Alex de Jong shaping the sound in real time through dub-influenced effects.

That looseness is part of the appeal. “So What,” “All Blues,” and “Pursuance” are used as living material, not fixed texts, and Butcher Brown’s blend of groove, improvisation, and beat-driven momentum keeps the music from slipping into reverence. Ashley Kahn, who has written major books on both source albums, contributes the liner notes, which suits a record so clearly engaged with jazz history while insisting on the present tense.

Features

• 2xLP, Limited Edition
• Limited to 1,500 copies worldwide
• Liner notes by Ashley Kahn
• Gatefold sleeve