Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Can jazz’s rich tradition of eye-catching cover art survive in the MP3 era?
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes
Nate Chinen makes the argument that Kurt Elling is the most influential jazz vocalist of our time
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro
Why a music degree is more practical than some parents (and students) might think
Jazz pianist discusses her experiences in performing for and with visually-impaired students
Trumpeter arranges holiday music for special brass-heavy group on CD and in performance around NYC area.
Read More “The Joyous & Jazzy Brass of Trumpeter Eddie Allen”
Acclaimed program celebrates four decades of groundbreaking jazz education
Read More “The New England Conservatory: A Tradition of Innovation”
