Henry Butler: Good for the Heart and Soul

Henry Butler

Blues Alley, Washington, August 20: first of two sets

[photo of me with Henry taken at Wolf Trap in 2007]

In 2005, New Orleans musician Henry Butler lost his home to Hurricane Katrina and left his demolished Ninth Ward neighborhood for Denver. This year, he packed up and headed east, and is now based in Brooklyn, New York. So it was an easy jaunt to head down to Washington and play two shows at Blues Alley last night.

But this night had a special mission. Butler, blind since birth and no stranger to overcoming obstacles of his own, donated half the proceeds from last night’s shows to help fellow New Orleans musician Marva Wright, who is recovering from a massive stroke.

Butler has various incarnations of his act: a jazz trio, a larger blues band, member of New Orleans Social Club, and sitting in with the best phat cats out there. He can hold his own solo too, as he did last night. Butler’s 85-minute set (he confessed to leaving his watch in his hotel room and just kept on going, since nobody really wanted him to stop) was a soulful mix jazz, blues, and ragtime—with a large dose of charm.

On the Yamaha grand, he opened with several instrumentals: “Orleans Inspiration,” from his latest disc, Pianola Live; a cover of “Elanor Rigby,” and a spirited version of Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer.” Then the singing began with the lively, “Somethin’ You Got;” the timeless Otis classic, “Dock of the Bay,” and Allen Toussaint’s “Workin’ in a Coal Mine.” Soon he had the crowd clapping and singing the chorus to “I’ve Got My Eyes on You,” from his Blues After Sunset disc.

Watching his hands fly over the keys and hearing the raw emotion of his singing, it’s hard not to be moved to tears during a Butler show. My tear ducts full, I was glad he slipped in his cover of Professor Longhair’s “Tipitina,” a personal favorite. He closed the show with his Stevie Wonder cover, “Will it Go Round in Circles,” followed by the sound of thunderous applause.