Henry Butler

Henry Butler, an eight-time Blues Music Award nominee, has been called “the pride of New Orleans” (Dr. John), “a piano genius” (All Music Guide) and “the greatest living proponent of the classic New Orleans piano tradition, playing an amalgam of boogie-woogie, jazz, blues and classical in the lineage of Professor Longhair, James Booker, Tuts Washington, Allen Toussaint and countless other emperors of the ivories” (CMJ New Music Report). Born in New Orleans, Butler began playing piano at age six. He studied piano, vocals and numerous instruments at the Louisiana State School for the Blind in Baton Rouge and went on to study with keyboard players George Duke, Cannonball Adderley’s Quintet, Sir Roland Hanna and Harold Mabern. His early albums were jazz trio recordings (Fivin’ Around with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins in 1986 and The Village with Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette in 1988). Butler’s subsequent works have drawn heavily on New Orleans music and the blues. His 1990 album Orleans Inspiration, recorded with Leo Nocentelli of the Meters, was followed by Blues And More in 1992. Although he briefly returned to jazz with For All Seasons in 1996, he’s remained immersed in the blues since releasing 1998’s Blues After Sunset. After collaborating with Corey Harris on a duo album, Vu-du Menz in 2000, Butler spent three years touring with the Delta blues-influenced guitarist/vocalist His debut album for Basin Street Records, The Game Has Just Begun (2002), was a power-packed, all-electric blues-rock album and he took things even deeper with 2004’s Homeland. With his most recent album, PiaNOLA Live, Butler delivers a love letter to his birthplace, a work reflecting the inspiration he has long drawn from New Orleans and demonstrating how he, in turn, has given back that energy, leaving an indelible mark on the city’s musical legacy. PiaNOLA Live, Butler’s first live solo album, marks the beginning of a series of albums derived from his extensive archive of performance tapes. Although blinded by glaucoma since birth, Butler is a world-class photographer with his work displayed at exhibitions throughout the United States.