Nicholas Payton not only has the short, round looks of Louis Armstrong, but the New Orleans trumpeter also captures his predecessor's fast, focused trumpet sound better than any other young musician. Just as important, Payton gives the music a friendly, playful feel, much like Satchmo's. On From This Moment, Payton mixes superior chops with a warm, Southern sensibility that's a delight. Payton favors a softer, more malleable tone like that of Armstrong or Miles Davis. This doesn't prevent him from darting with agility through uptempo bop tunes such as the standard "It Could Happen to You" or his own "In the Beginning." But Payton really comes into his own on ballads such as Kenny Dorham's "Fair Weather" or his own "To the Essential One," where he can hold out a single note and shape it to his own sultry, romantic purposes. —Geoffrey Himes

Trumpeter Nicholas Payton has a tough line of influence preceding him. His New Orleans roots—not to mention his stellar self-titled CD of duets with Doc Cheatham—recall the great Louis Armstrong, even if his style is less aligned with any single horn voice. He's moved stealthily into a groove with the band on Nick@Night since they came together on CD for Gumbo Nouveau in 1995. Soprano and tenor saxophonist Tim Warfield plays nicely clipped lines on the straight horn, with drummer Adonis Rose crashing along at times with the force of a Tony Williams acolyte, surprising those familiar with earlier, more laid-back Payton affairs. Of course, the trumpeter is the front man and grabs much of the attention with his rapid attack, bent with arty slurs and half-valve statements. Payton solos with lightning quickness and hopping, rhythmic leaps on "Blacker Black's Revenge" and the pair of entertaining interludes that dot Nick@Night. And despite the presence of the very unhumorous harpsichord on a couple tracks, this rendition of Payton's band hearkens back to the Cheatham session (very obliquely) in its sense of fun, with "Captain Crunch (Meets the Cereal Killer)" living up in spirit to its promising title. Further, Anthony Wonsey actually makes the harpsichord (and the celeste) sound appropriate here, sticking with the instrument's warmer corners and steering away from any hyperruns or nervous stair climbs. Payton's band can be a rollicking one, and here they show their full range of potency. —Andrew Bartlett

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Phil Collins is regularly thrashed in the press for playing it safe and churning out predictable dependable music for yuppies. He was once accused of being "a rich superstar whose music only sounded good in a BMW." On A Hot Night in Paris, Collins again jumps into the shallow end of the pool and comes up playing Le Jazz Hot, with a 20-member band including a Count Basie arranger and some old-timers he borrowed from Buddy Rich's band to augment his regular players. To his credit, Collins worked out to a video designed for jazz drummers to get in shape for the project, but his muscular timekeeping lacks the color and subtleties of players born to the art form. Also, there is very little of what he does best: singing. The only vocals on this album are a few grunts and moans during an almost-note-perfect rendering of the Average White Band's funk classic, "Pick up the Pieces," which almost rescues the album from banality. Thrown in for recognition value are instrumental renditions of some of his better known solo chart-toppers, such as "Sussudio," "I Don't Care Anymore," and "Against All Odds." But more surprising, the former Genesis skinbeater threw in four numbers from the rock band's extensive songbook, including a swing version of the eccentric "Los Endos Suite." The only thing missing from this CD, recorded live in Paris and Montreux, is the clinking of cocktail glasses. —Jaan Uhelszki

In the '40s, a time-travel experiment allegedly occurred in a Philadelphia naval yard. This fantastic combo of Philly musicians—pianist/keyboardist Uri Caine, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson of the rap combo the Roots—takes its name from that fictional event, and combines fusion, mainstream jazz, and R&B styles from the '70s to today. Augmented by guitar-legend Pat Martino and trumpeter John Swana, Thompson lays down some tricky jungle beats on the title track, while the threesome venture into the avant-garde on "(Re)moved" and into Latin on "IIe Ife." The group reincarnates Sun Ra's "Call for All Demons" as a funky instrumental, and they brilliantly revisit Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man," while Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom" is redone as a classical-style McBride/Caine duet. The late saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. was Philly's patron jazz saint, as evidenced by Caine's reverent solo piano rendition of Washington's hit "Mr. Magic" and McBride's funky, overdubbed one-man electric bass version of "Just the Two of Us." This threesome reminds us that the City of Brotherly Love still swings. —Eugene Holley Jr.

The founding members of Pieces of a Dream—keyboard player James K. Lloyd, drummer Curtis Harmon, and bassist Cedric Hamilton—began playing together as Philadelphia high-school students in the '70s. A few years later, with their first producer, the late Grover Washington Jr., they were blending laid-back improvisation and R&B grooves before the smooth-jazz genre existed. That long-standing identity as a band still distinguishes them, and this CD marks a deliberate invocation of their roots, including the tune "Philly High." Lloyd's gift for elegant lyricism stands out here, especially on the moody "Cry of the Lonely," while Eddie Baccus Jr. lends his romantic soprano sax to the tender "Took So Long" and "Love You for Life." Tracks with singers Maysa Leak and Calvin Richardson make the R&B roots of the band explicit, and there's some fresh Latin fire on "The Good Life." —Adam Rains