Payne received his first saxophone aged 13, asking his father for the instrument after hearing "Honeysuckle Rose" performed by Count Basie with Lester Young soloing. Payne took lessons from a local alto sax player, Pete Brown, and studied at Boys High School, Bedford-Stuyvesant.^[2]

Payne began his professional recording career with J. J. Johnson on the Savoy label in 1946. During that year he also began playing with Roy Eldridge, through whom he met Dizzy Gillespie. His earlier recordings would largely fall under the swing category, until Gillespie hired him. Payne stayed on board until 1949, heard performing solos on "Ow!" and "Stay On It". In the early 1950s, he found himself working with Tadd Dameron, and worked with Illinois Jacquet from 1952 to 1954. He then started freelance work in New York City and frequently performed during this period with Randy Weston, whom Payne worked with until 1960.^[3] Payne was still recording regularly for Delmark Records in the 1990s, when he was in his 70s, and indeed on into the new millennium.

Payne was a cousin of trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, with whom he recorded with briefly.^[4] Aside from his career in music, Payne helped run his father's real estate company during the 1950s.^[3] Payne once said that his parents urged him to consider dentistry as a career. He countered their suggestion by pointing out that no one would ever entrust his or her teeth to a "Dr. Payne".^[5]

He died in Stratford, New Jersey, from prostate cancer at the age of 84.^[1]

As leader edit

• "Block Buster Boogie"^[6] b/w "Angel Child" (Decca, 1949)^[7]
• "Hippy Dippy"^[8] b/w "No Chops" (Decca, 1949)^[9]
• Patterns of Jazz (Savoy, 1957)
• Cecil Payne Performing Charlie Parker Music (Charlie Parker, 1961)
• The Connection (Charlie Parker, 1962)
• Brookfield Andante (Spotlite, 1966)
• Zodiac (Strata-East, 1968 [1973])
• Brooklyn Brothers (Muse, 1973), with Duke Jordan
• Bird Gets The Worm (Muse, 1976)
• Bright Moments (Spotlight, 1979)
• Cerupa (Delmark, 1993), with Eric Alexander, Harold Mabern and (1 track) Freddie Hubbard
• Scotch and Milk (Delmark, 1997)
• Payne's Window (Delmark, 1998)
• The Brooklyn Four Plus One (Progressive, 1999)
• Chic Boom: Live at the Jazz Showcase (Delmark, 2000), with tenor player Eric Alexander.

As sideman edit

• Cecil Payne recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.