Journalist, Political Reporter, Cultural Critic, Editor/Proofreader
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr
July 2014
Interview:
Henry Butler
by Alex Henderson
Pianist/singer Henry Butler has not been an easy artist to categorize. Often compared to McCoy Tyner in the ‘80s, the New Orleans native (who left that city after flooding from
Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home in 2005 and now lives
in Brooklyn) emphasized modal post-bop on his first two
albums: 1986’s Fivin’ Around and 1987’s The Village, both released by Impulse Records. But Butler moved in many different directions after the ‘80s and Viper’s Drag, his new album with New York City-based trumpeter/arranger Steven Bernstein, is heavily influenced by the New Orleans jazz of ‘20s-30s yet also draws on blues, funk and soul. During a recent interview, the 64-year-old Butler (who has been blind since infancy) had a lot to say about his past and his present.
The New York City Jazz Record: You started out your recording career on Impulse Records 28 years ago when the label was reactivated by MCA Records and now that Impulse is being reactivated again, you’re back on the label.
Henry Butler: Yes, it’s the second time around for me on Impulse and we’re hoping they will do some good
things on the business side. We’ve done as much as we can do musically. So the next thing to see is what they do on the business side.
TNYCJR: Viper’s Drag is the first release from the new
incarnation of Impulse, which has an interesting setup. This time, Impulse has distribution via Blue
Note Records in the United States but is being reactivated by Universal Music Group France. That’s
an intriguing combination.
HB: It’s a little different from the last time I was on Impulse. Of course, in those days, both my records—
Fivin’ Around and The Village—were on CD, vinyl and
cassette. And I think those were the last records I did that came out on cassette.
TNYCJR: You have a wide variety of influences on the new Viper’s Drag album.
HB: We have Fats Waller. We have Jelly Roll Morton. We have a little bit of a New Orleans street parade
thing—not totally catering to the New Orleans style, but there’s enough of it so you know that there’s some New Orleans stuff going on there.
TNYCJR: Steven Bernstein is a fixture in New York City and really brings out the New York element.
HB: Definitely in his horn arrangements. We have
different things in our repertoire. Some of them come from New Orleans, some of them come from just the blues style. But we always take it somewhere else. We
believe that everything we do has to have our creative stamp on it.
TNYCJR: One can learn a lot about New Orleans jazz listening to this album, but there’s also the influence of the funk, soul and blues that were so important to New Orleans. And you also acknowledge some artists who weren’t from New Orleans such as Fats Waller on the title track and Bessie Smith with “Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer).”
HB: If we were going to have a subtitle, we would call it New Orleans and Beyond because all of the guys on this album have done a lot of different things and can
play a lot of different styles. They’ve played all over the place. Some have played with Wynton Marsalis,
some have played with Levon Helm, some have played with Lou Reed—who just died—and they’re having a lot of fun with this New Orleans-ish repertoire.
TNYCJR: Viper’s Drag is credited to Henry Butler/ Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9. How did you end up
calling the group on this album the Hot 9?
HB: (laughs) Well, there’s actually ten people in the group. But I think the producer, Joshua Feigenbaum,
was caught up in Louis Armstrong’s Hot 5 and Hot 7, and he thought this would be a great name for the
group.
TNYCJR: The name Hot 9 certainly has a strong ‘20s,
Prohibition-era connotation.
HB: Yeah, and I think that’s what Joshua was thinking.
TNYCJR: One thing you and Steven Bernstein have in common is your very eclectic tastes.
HB: This is a dream for me. I’ve always wanted an album with an arranger who was as eclectic as Steven Bernstein. I was a student of Alvin Batiste, who was sort of like that. Steven is sort of like Alvin in that sense and I’m having fun working with him. Sometimes, it’s a blessing to play in so many different styles and sometimes, it’s a curse—and when you collaborate with a guy who has great arranging skills, that’s a beautiful thing. But when you play it live, it still goes to a different place every time you play it.
TNYCJR: You have three songs from Jelly Roll Morton on Viper’s Drag.
HB: Oh, boy, that’s right. We have “Wolverine Blues”, “King Porter Stomp” and “Buddy Bolden’s Blues”. I suggested all three. And it’s fun because Steven Bernstein, with his arranging style, takes them to
different places.
TNYCJR: Jelly Roll Morton died in 1941 and the fact that you’re performing three of his songs on a 2014 release really underscores the longevity of his work.
HB: Jelly Roll Morton was probably moreknowledgeable than he could show on any record he did. He had the gift of gab. Of course, he was pimping—you had to have the gift of gab to do that. Jelly Roll was a hustler. Black people in those days, especially in the South, thought they needed to hustle to survive. So as much of a pianist as Jelly Roll was, he was doing a lot of stuff on the side to make money. Understand that Jelly Roll didn’t get any money from ASCAP because ASCAP, at that time, wasn’t paying black people. Eventually, they were forced to start paying black people royalties, but by that time, Jelly Roll was dead.
TNYCJR: On “Buddy Bolden’s Blues”, you’re singing about one of the earliest figures in New Orleans jazz. When Morton wrote it, he had first-hand knowledge of what cornetist Buddy Bolden sounded like.
HB: Not only that, but Jelly Roll was one of the first people in jazz to actually commit a lot of this stuff to
paper. There were other pianists in that time who didn’t. Some of them were supposedly a little more
creative, a little more spontaneous than he was. But they didn’t commit anything to paper.
TNYCJR: Now that you are recording for Impulse again, does Impulse plan to reissue either Fivin’ Around or The Village?
HB: You know, I haven’t asked them about that.
TNYCJR: There’s still an enthusiastic audience for
your ‘80s recordings. A copy of Fivin’ Around was recently selling on Amazon.com for $78.85.
HB: Several times, I’ve seen people selling The Village on vinyl for 80 or 90 bucks.
TNYCJR: Fivin’ Around and The Village were full of horn players, but when you were living in Los Angeles
back then, you performed a lot of gigs with small piano trios. And it was interesting to hear what “Swing It” or “My Coloring Book” sounded like without horns. Is there any chance that some recordings of those trio gigs in L.A. will ever become commercially available?
HB: I had a lot of that stuff, but a lot of it I lost in Hurricane Katrina. I’m realizing how much stuff I lost
in Katrina.
TNYCJR: When Fivin’ Around and The Village came out, you were often described as postbop and compared to McCoy Tyner or Cedar Walton. But when Windham
Hill released your Orleans Inspiration album in 1990,
people heard a different side of you and saw what you could do with blues and soul. And you haven’t become any less diverse since then.
HB: Everybody I knew back in the ‘80s, the ‘90s, the ‘70s was eclectic. I knew there were some people who
were maybe a little narrower in their approaches, but most of the people I met were buying a little bit of
everything.
TNYCJR: You’ve lived in many different places other than New Orleans over the years—L.A., New York, Illinois. Now you’re living in Brooklyn. But wherever you are, the New Orleans influence in your music remains.
HB: Every time I reflect on New Orleans’ history, I come away realizing how unique that town is. It’s probably one of the two or three most unique cities in this country. In some ways, it’s probably the most
unique because it still has the flavors it started with—the Caribbean influences, the African influences. And the music of New Orleans will always be with me.•
For more information, visit henrybutler.com. Henry Butler-
Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9 are at The Cutting Room
Jul. 16th. See Calendar.
Recommended Listening:
• Henry Butler — Fivin’ Around (Impulse-MCA, 1986)
• Henry Butler — The Village (Impulse-MCA, 1987)
• Henry Butler — For All Seasons (Atlantic, 1995)
• Claude “Fiddler” Williams — Swingin’ The Blues
(Bullseye Blues/New Rounder, 1999)
• Henry Butler — PiaNOLA Live
(Basin Street, mid ‘80s-2007)
• Henry Butler/Steven Bernstein and The Hot 9 — Viper’s Drag (Impulse, 2013)
Photo by Ryan Muir
Copyright 2022 Alex V. Henderson. All rights reserved.
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr