Don Butterfield
Encyclopedia
Don Butterfield was an American
jazz
and classical tuba
player.
. He wanted to play trumpet
, but the band director assigned him to tuba instead. After serving in the U.S. Military from 1942-46 he went on to study the instrument at Juilliard School
, a prestigious music conservatory in New York.
He started his professional career in the late 1940s playing for the CBS
and NBC
radio networks. He played in orchestras, including the American Symphony, on albums by Jackie Gleason
until he became a full time member at the Radio City Music Hall
.
In the 1950s, he switched to jazz, backing such artists as Dizzy Gillespie
, Frank Sinatra
, Charles Mingus
, Rahsaan Roland Kirk
, Jimmy Smith
, and Moondog
. He fronted his own sextet for a 1955 album on Atlantic Records
and played the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival
.
In the 1970s he worked as a session musician
. He played on recordings for a variety of artists and on television and film soundtracks, including The Godfather Part II
.
The Grove dictionary of music calls his playing style, "uncommonly florid, a skill that made him of value as a jazz musician... He was one of the first modern jazz players who, rather than simply marking out the bass line, rediscovered the possibility of bringing to the instrument a facility akin to that of a trumpeter."
Butterfield suffered a stroke
in 2005, which left him unable to play, and his death was from a stroke-related illness.
With Nat Adderley
With David Amram
With Donald Byrd
With Bill Evans
With Roland Kirk
With Gil Mellé
With Charles Mingus
With Wes Montgomery
With Lee Morgan
With Oliver Nelson
With Oscar Peterson
With Sonny Rollins
With Jimmy Smith
With Billy Taylor
With Clark Terry
With The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and classical tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
player.
Biography
Butterfield took up tuba in high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. He wanted to play trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, but the band director assigned him to tuba instead. After serving in the U.S. Military from 1942-46 he went on to study the instrument at Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, a prestigious music conservatory in New York.
He started his professional career in the late 1940s playing for the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio networks. He played in orchestras, including the American Symphony, on albums by Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
until he became a full time member at the Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
.
In the 1950s, he switched to jazz, backing such artists as Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute and many other instruments...
, Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
, and Moondog
Moondog
Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin , was a blind American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. Moving to New York as a young man, Moondog made a deliberate decision to make his home on the streets there, where he spent approximately twenty of the thirty years he...
. He fronted his own sextet for a 1955 album on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and played the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
.
In the 1970s he worked as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
. He played on recordings for a variety of artists and on television and film soundtracks, including The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II (soundtrack)
The Godfather Part II is the soundtrack from the movie of the same name, released in 1974 by ABC and in 1991 on compact disc by MCA. The original score was composed by Nino Rota and conducted by Carmine Coppola, who also provided source music for the film...
.
The Grove dictionary of music calls his playing style, "uncommonly florid, a skill that made him of value as a jazz musician... He was one of the first modern jazz players who, rather than simply marking out the bass line, rediscovered the possibility of bringing to the instrument a facility akin to that of a trumpeter."
Butterfield suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 2005, which left him unable to play, and his death was from a stroke-related illness.
As Sideman
With Cannonball Adderley- African WaltzAfrican WaltzAfrican Waltz is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley released on the Riverside label and performed by Adderley with an orchestra conducted by Ernie Wilkins. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and states "The music on this CD reissue is better than it should be...
(Riverside, 1961) - DominationDomination (Cannonball Adderley album)Domination is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley released on the Capitol label featuring performances of by Adderley with an orchestra conducted by Oliver Nelson. The CD release added the bonus track "Experience in E" composed by Joe Zawinul and originally released on the 1970 album...
(Capitol, 1965)
With Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
- AutobiographyAutobiography (Nat Adderley album)Autobiography was the ninth album by jazz cornetist Nat Adderley. It was released in 1964 as a vinyl record, his first after moving to Atlantic Records...
(Atlantic, 1964)
With David Amram
David Amram
David Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
- Subway NightSubway NightSubway Night is an album by jazz hornist David Amram, released in 1972 on RCA Records.-Tracklisting:#"Fabulous Fifties"#"Little Momma"#"Credo"#"Subway Night"#"Professor and the Panhandler"#"Horn and Hardart Succotash Blues"#"Neon Casbah"...
(RCA, 1972)
With Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
- I'm Tryin' to Get HomeI'm Tryin' to Get HomeI'm Tryin' to Get Home is an album by American trumpeter Donald Byrd featuring performances by Byrd with a large brass section and vocalists recorded in 1964 and released on the Blue Note label in 1965 as BLP 4188.-Reception:...
(Blue Note, 1965)
With Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
- SymbiosisSymbiosis (album)-Track listing:# "Symbiosis 1st Movement - 24:58# "Symbiosis 2nd Movement - 15:55*Recorded in New York City on February 11, 12 & 14, 1974.-Personnel:*Bill Evans - piano, electric piano...
(MPS, 1974)
With Roland Kirk
- The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson OrchestraThe Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson OrchestraThe Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra is an album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk. It was originally released on the Mercury label in 1964 and features performances by Kirk with Harold Mabern, Abdullah Rafik, Sonny Brown and Benny Golson's Orchestra featuring Virgil...
(Mercury, 1963)
With Gil Mellé
Gil Melle
Gil Mellé was an American artist, jazz musician and film composer.In the 1950s, Mellé's paintings and sculptures were shown in New York galleries and he created the cover art for albums by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins...
- Gil's GuestsGil's GuestsGil's Guests is an album by American saxophonist Gil Mellé recorded in 1956 and released on the Prestige label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and stated "Baritonist Gil Melle's recordings are usually a bit unusual and this CD reissue is no exception.....
(Prestige, 1963)
With Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
- The Black Saint and the Sinner LadyThe Black Saint and the Sinner Lady-Personnel:Musicians*Charles Mingus – bass, piano, composer*Jerome Richardson – soprano and baritone saxophone, flute*Charlie Mariano – alto saxophone*Dick Hafer – tenor saxophone, flute*Rolf Ericson – trumpet...
(Impulse!, 1963) - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus MingusMingus Mingus Mingus Mingus MingusMingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is a 1963 album by jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus.- Historical Context :...
(Impulse!, 1963)
With Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
- Movin' WesMovin' WesMovin' Wes is an album by American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1964. It reached number 18 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in 1967, his second album to reach the charts following the success of his later release Bumpin.-History:...
(Verve, 1964)
With Lee Morgan
Lee Morgan
Edward Lee Morgan was an American hard bop trumpeter.-Biography:...
- DelightfuleeDelightfuleeDelightfulee is an album by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on April 8 & May 27, 1966 and features performances by Morgan with a quintet featuring Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins and a big band featuring Ernie Royal, Tom...
(Blue Note, 1966)
With Oliver Nelson
Oliver Nelson
Oliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
- The Kennedy DreamThe Kennedy DreamThe Kennedy Dream is an album by American composer/arranger Oliver Nelson recorded in 1967 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 3½ stars stating "In February of 1967, Oliver Nelson recognized Kennedy's contributions and assembled a big band to...
(Impulse!, 1967)
With Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
- Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band!Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band!Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band! is a 1962 studio album by Oscar Peterson. - Track listing :# "Blues for Big Scotia" – 5:55# "West Coast Blues" – 3:57...
(Verve, 1962)
With Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
- Sonny Rollins and the Big BrassSonny Rollins and the Big BrassSonny Rollins and the Big Brass is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded for the MetroJazz label, later reissued on Verve Records...
(Metro Jazz, 1958)
With Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
- The CatThe Cat (album)The Cat is a 1964 album by Jimmy Smith. It features the sound of Smith's Hammond B-3 organ with big band arrangements by composer Lalo Schifrin...
(Verve, 1964)
With Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
- My Fair Lady Loves JazzMy Fair Lady Loves JazzMy Fair Lady Loves Jazz is an album by American jazz pianist Billy Taylor featuring performances of show tunes from the musical My Fair Lady recorded in 1957 and originally released on the ABC-Paramount label and rereleased Impulse! label in 1964 following the release of the film.-Reception:The...
(Impulse!, 1957)
With Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
- Top & Bottom Brass (Riverside/OJC, 1959)
With The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra
- New Life (A&M, 1975)