HENRY BUTLER
Genres: RnB, Hard Bop, Blues • United States

Henry Butler (September 21, 1949 – July 2, 2018) was an American jazz pianist. He was known for his technique and his ability to play in many styles of music. In 1987, New York Times music critic Jon Pareles wrote that Butler "revels in fluency and facility, splashing chords all over the keyboard and streaking through solos with machine-gun articulation. In 1998, Chicago Tribune arts critic Howard Reich described Butler as "an enormous intellect matched by unusual physical strength." Referred to by Dr. John as "the pride of New Orleans," Butler was his generation's representative in the Crescent City's lineage of piano players such as Professor Longhair, James Booker, Tuts Washington, and Jelly Roll Morton. Butler recorded for several record labels, including Impulse, Windham Hill, and Basin Street Records. Butler was blinded by glaucoma in infancy. His musical training began at the Louisiana State School for the Blind, where he learned to play read more...