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Henry Butler
Once you’ve heard what bluesman Henry Butler’s hands can create on those ivories, there’s no going back. Those hands boogie that keyboard like no one else’s. Throw in a classically trained voice aching us through the blues, and you’re someplace you have never been before and would give anything to return to, again and again.
Considered the premier exponent of the great New Orleans jazz and blues piano tradition, Butler is a ten-time Pinetop Perkins (formerly W. C. Handy) Best Blues Instrumentalist Award nominee. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues, and R&B, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace.
A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues, and R&B, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace. Blinded by glaucoma at birth, Butler has been playing the piano since he was six years old, and arranging, composing, and performing professionally since he was twelve.
A New York Times review of a performance at New York City’s Jazz Standard described Butler as “percussive in his attack, ostentatious with his technique…the picture of stubborn mischief — and, not coincidentally, of New Orleans pianism. He obliged the spirit of the occasion with his own stylistic consommé: billowing whole-tone glissandi; furrowed, Monkish hiccups; boppish two-handed octaves; flare-ups of funk and Chopin.”
Considered the premier exponent of the great New Orleans jazz and blues piano tradition, Butler’s sound has been influenced by the streets (he grew up in the Calliope Projects in New Orleans, has traveled the world, lived on both coasts and in the heartland); by studying with the greats (Alvin Batiste, Sir Roland Hanna, Professor Longhair, and James Booker, among others); by institutions (Louisiana School for the Blind, Southern University, Baton Rouge, and Michigan State University); and by his willingness to explore new boundaries and to take risks.”
To date, Butler has played almost every major club and festival in the United States, as well as venues in Brazil, France, Norway, Italy, Japan, Australia, and more. For over forty years, he has conducted workshops, clinics, and master classes throughout the country; he also developed a camp for blind and visually impaired teen musicians, the subject of a 2010 documentary, The Music’s Gonna Get You Through.
Butler’s photographs exploring the sighted world’s relationship with the flat representational image and its power continue to be exhibited nationally and internationally and appear in major newspapers across the country. He and his photographic work were featured in the recent documentary Dark Light: the Art of Blind Photographers, and his work is included in the exhibition Sight Unseen: International Photography by Blind Artists, still on tour.
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Various artists: Alligator Records: 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music
by Jim Trageser
Maybe this half-century commemoration of the jny: Chicago-based, blues-focused label should have been titled, “The Last of the Independents." Almost alone of the mid-major labels that formerly thrived in the 1980s and '90s by specializing in non-mainstream styles of music, Alligator has managed to navigate stunning changes in the music business--from the vinyl of LPs and 45s to cassettes and CDs, and then, most recently, the virtual collapse of the retail record business and wholesale pivot to online ...
read moreHenry Butler, Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9: Viper's Drag
by Angelo Leonardi
Cosa unisce la dissacrante verve di Steven Bernstein -estroverso leader dei Sex Mob e animatore di vari progetti con la Tzadik di John Zorn-col virtuosistico pianismo di Henry Butler, fortemente intriso di blues? Questa rilettura sul primo jazz di New Orleans è una delle risposte. La passione per la tradizione ha accomunato i due artisti già nel 1998, quando presero parte alle musiche del film di Robert Altman Kansas City, e poi nel 2011, quando animarono una reunion ...
read moreNice Jazz Festival 2014
by Emilio Palanti
Nizza--Francia 8-12.07.2014 Quest'anno, guardando il cartellone del Festival Jazz di Nizza, a prima vista si lamentava l'assenza di vere e proprie superstar, com'era accaduto nelle edizioni precedenti, ma a rassegna finita possiamo dire che non son mancate le piacevoli sorprese. Sia ben chiaro, molti nomi di prima grandezza erano presenti, ma forse mancava il personaggio trainante. Ad ogni modo il pubblico, incoraggiato anche da prezzi del tutto abboradbili, ha partecipato in maniera massiccia a tutte le ...
read moreHenry Butler: San Diego, April 12, 2011
by Robert Bush
Henry ButlerSaville Theatre, San Diego City CollegeSan Diego, CAApril 12, 2011 The path that brought famed New Orleans pianist Henry Butler to the Saville Theatre on April 12 has been rich in diversity and inexorably directed to his core : the wide scope of Crescent City music, and the deep well of the blues. Although he began his professional career in jazz as a thoroughly modern keyboard stylist--Fivin' Around (Impulse! 1986), ...
read moreHenry Butler: PiaNOLA Live
by Mike Perciaccante
In a town famous for its piano virtuosos--Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Eddie Bo, Professor Longhair, James Booker, and even Harry Connick, Jr. (all New Orleans natives)--Henry Butler is a giant. Though his eclectic mixture of funk, blues, jazz, pop, schmaltz, rock and standards isn't everyone's cup of tea, his musical genius is legendary. Musicians and fans both hail Butler as the next piano superstar.
Butler is a quintuple-threat, being an excellent writer, arranger, interpreter, player and multi-instrumentalist. Though ...
read moreNew Orleans Comes to Denver: Henry Butler and Groovesect
by Geoff Anderson
Henry Butler and GroovesectLannie's Clocktower Cabaret/KUVODenver, ColoradoDecember 14-15, 2007
Snow didn't come to New Orleans, but New Orleans came to Denver this weekend in the form of a heapin' helpin' of musical gumbo, jambalaya and soul-nourishing funk. Friday night, as the latest snowstorm was petering out, Henry Butler brought his New Orleans sound to a packed Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret. The next afternoon, Groovesect, a young New Orleans band funked up the KUVO studio in a ...
read moreHenry Butler: Homeland
by C. Michael Bailey
Henry Butler's last recording was a bit of an eclectic affair. The Game has Just Begun, Butler's debut on New Orleans? Basin Street Records, contained a gumbo of Southern music with a cover of “Riders on the Storm" to boot. Butler's new offering, Homeland, is a throwback almost to the Swing Era, judging by the disc?s opening piece, “Jump to the Music." “Jump" is the key operative. Butler?s piano on “Jump To the Music" recalls Jay McShann and a whole ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Henry Butler
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Henry Butler's birthday today!
Once you’ve heard what bluesman Henry Butler’s hands can create on those ivories, there’s no going back. Those hands boogie that keyboard like no one else’s. Throw in a classically trained voice aching us through the blues, and you’re someplace you have never been before and would give anything to return to, again and again. Considered the premier exponent of the great New Orleans jazz and blues piano tradition, Butler is ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Henry Butler
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Henry Butler's birthday today!
Once you’ve heard what bluesman Henry Butler’s hands can create on those ivories, there’s no going back. Those hands boogie that keyboard like no one else’s. Throw in a classically trained voice aching us through the blues, and you’re someplace you have never been before and would give anything to return to, again and again. Considered the premier exponent of the great New Orleans jazz and blues piano tradition, Butler is ...
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Henry Butler, 1948-2018
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
The gifted New Orleans pianist Henry Butler has died. He was 69. Noted for virtuosity at the keyboard and soulful depth as a singer, Butler pursued his career primarily in his home city, with frequent tours overseas. Blinded by glaucoma as an infant, he excelled academically at all levels and dazzled other musicians with his skill. In recent years, Butler lived in the Bronx borough of New York City. In today’s New York Times, Jon Pareles’ obituary of Butler contains ...
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Impulse! Renaissance Universal Music Group Reactivates Legendary Impulse! Label
Source:
Josh Johnson
First Release From Henry Butler-Steven Bernstein And The Hot 9 “Viper’s Drag” Due Out July 15 In The U.S. Universal Music Group is reactivating the legendary jazz label impulse! with the release of Viper’s Drag, a retro-modern opus from Henry Butler-Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9 that is due out July 15 in the U.S. The new impulse!, which was reported yesterday in The New York Times, is a division of Universal Music France headquartered in Paris that will be ...
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Legendary New Orleans Pianist Henry Butler Joins Richi Debonis' Nowtet For A Special One-time Performance at NYC's 78 Below
Source:
James Keepnews
The legendary New Orleans pianist Henry Butler joins underground legend Richi DeBonis — a.k.a. Richi Van Zeppelin — and his NOWtet ensemble for a rare, one-time performance at New York's 78 Below club on Thursday, September 12 at 10 PM. DeBonis and his NOWtet are coming off of a celebrated stand at the Denver jazz club DazzleJazz – this special concert is the first time Butler and Debonis will have performed together in public. The NOWtet features Noah Preminger on ...
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Jeff Golub Band, Featuring Henry Butler - The Three Kings (2011)
Source:
Something Else!
Jeff Golub, a longtime sideman with Rod Stewart and Billy Squier, has compiled the expected all-star amalgam in this tribute to the blues stylings of The Three Kings—Albert, B.B. and Freddie. Yet it is his guitar work, canny and sharp-edged, that holds everything together. Golub's playing is comprehensive in scope—stinging and raw when it needs to be, then bracing and jazz-infused when you might be expecting something more overt. Just as importantly, Golub made varied musical selections, and followed that ...
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Jazz/Blues Pianist Henry Butler Profiled In HBO Documentary - "Dark Light: The Art Of Blind Photographers"
Source:
Muse Media
CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED JAZZ/BLUES PIANIST HENRY BUTLER PROFILED IN NEW HBO DOCUMENTARY “DARK LIGHT: THE ART OF BLIND PHOTOGRAPHERS" Photos By New Orleans' Native Musical Son Are The Subject Of Compelling Film Airing This Month Nationwide On The Cable Network As Well As A Traveling Photo Exhibit Los Angeles, California. Henry Butler, pianist extraordinaire, will now be recognized in another medium for which he excels—photography. The photographs of the legendary sight-impaired jazz and blues musician are the subject of a new documentary ...
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Correspondence: Butler Did It
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Rifftides reader Garret Gannuch practices pediatric radiology in Denver. When he moved to Colorado, his Louisiana soul went with him. A week ago, Dr. Gannuch traveled into the country south of Denver to hear a fellow New Orleanian. He knew that, like nearly anyone who's ever lived there, I'll never get over my love affair with New Orleans and he wrote me about the experience. I asked him if I could let you in on it. He said yes. Here ...
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New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
Source:
Michael Ricci
Henry Butler, Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis and more
The older he gets, the more New Orleans pianist Henry Butler resembles Professor Longhair. When Butler, now 59, performed Friday, the opening day of this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, his tall, lanky frame, bald, narrow head and wraparound sunglasses gave him the gaunt look of Henry Roeland Byrd, the musician immortalized as Professor Longhair (or Fess).
And when Butler started rattling his Roland electric piano with two-fisted chords, adding ...
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Denver Jazz Musician All Too Familiar with Devastating Effects from a Hurricane
Source:
All About Jazz
Denver jazz musician Henry Butler this weekend called friends who live in his old hometown of New Orleans, checking on how they were as Hurricane Gustav bore down upon the Gulf Coast. Some were getting ready to evacuate. Some planned to ride it out. They are all in his thoughts, said Butler, who lost his home, his recording studio and his piano three years ago in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. “I feel so sorry the people who are still ...
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Henry Butler
Instrument: Piano
Born: September 21, 1949
Died: July 2, 2018
