George Butler

[7/4]

April 20, 2008

George Butler, Executive at Prominent Jazz Labels, Is Dead at 76

By BEN RATLIFF

George Butler, a prominent jazz record executive for the Columbia, Blue Note and United Artists labels from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, died on April 9 in Castro Valley, Calif. He was 76.

His death was confirmed by his sister, Jacqueline Butler Hairston.

Mr. Butler was best known for working to make jazz recordings dovetail with trends in popular music in the 1970s and 1980s, and for helping to encourage the Young Lions movement that began in the ’80s, when Wynton Marsalis and other neo-traditionalists became stars.

Mr. Butler was a famously natty presence on the jazz scene. He lived in New York City for decades, but by October 2005, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, he had moved to a retirement home in Hayward, Calif.

Born and raised in Charlotte, N.C., Mr. Butler attended Howard University and received a master’s degree in music education from Teachers College at Columbia University. (The “Dr.” title he frequently used came from an honorary doctorate given to him by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.)

After a few years at United Artists Records, he moved to a subsidiary label, Blue Note, in 1972. At a time when jazz was rapidly losing its audience, he strove to fight the trend by arranging for many jazz-pop crossover projects, including albums by Earl Klugh, Donald Byrd, Ronnie Laws and Bobbi Humphrey. He also oversaw projects for records with a few musicians who had been at the forefront of jazz in the early ’60s, including Horace Silver and Bobby Hutcherson.

In the late ’70s Mr. Butler was hired by Columbia, where he became vice president for jazz and progressive artists and repertory. During his tenure there, which lasted into the mid-’90s, he helped persuade Miles Davis to return to the studio (in 1980, after a five-year absence). He also signed or was executive producer for fusion and soul-jazz acts like Bob James, Billy Cobham and Grover Washington Jr.

Mr. Butler was instrumental in signing Wynton Marsalis to Columbia. Mr. Butler and Columbia soon became a nexus for the Young Lions, young musicians playing hard bop or traditional styles with polished technique. He was the executive producer of albums by others who were presented in the same vein, like Branford Marsalis (Wynton Marsalis’s brother), Kent and Marlon Jordan, Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison. While at Columbia, he also signed Harry Connick Jr. and Nnenna Freelon.

In addition to his sister, Ms. Hairston, of Hayward, Calif., Mr. Butler is survived by his daughter, Bethany Butler of Manhattan.

[AndrewHill]

RIP. I'll keep this positive and say that I appreciated the fact that he produced Lee Morgan's "Last Session".

[sidewinder]

More sad news. His promotion of Woody Shaw on Columbia is also appreciated, in addition to bringing Miles Davis back to CBS in the 1980s. RIP.

[AndrewHill]

More sad news. His promotion of Woody Shaw on Columbia is also appreciated, in addition to bringing Miles Davis back to CBS in the 1980s. RIP.

Definitely thumbs up for his support of Woody Shaw!

[Guest youmustbe]

A lot of people didn't like George because he didn't give them a record deal...the usual jealousy stuff, but he was always cool with me. I spent many hours in the evenings in his office bsing. He was my guest with his family at a Festival I organized in Europe when I first started in the biz....

I got him to sign David Sanchez. He offered me 2 other deals which the artists in question rejected, so I never got to produce a record on Sony which I would have liked to have done.

[JSngry]

How much was Butler involved with Woody? I don't see his name on any of the Columbia albums, and I've always heard that it was his idea to drop Woody off the label in favor of focusing on the hyping of Wynton.

All the Columbia Shaw albums I have (which is all of them...) show Michael Cuscuna as producer & Maxine Gregg as Executive Producer. It was Bruce Lundvall, not Shaw who signed Shaw to the label, and it was Lundvall's Elektra Musician label to which Woody was next affiliated. If Butler was in any way actively involved in the promotion of Shaw while at Columbia beyond a "formal" level, I've been unaware of it up to this point. If anything, I think he was better off at the label before Butler's arrival.

If wrong about this, I will gladly stand corrected & join in the appreciation for this effort. But this is the first I've heard of it, ever!

On a personal level, hey, RIP & all that. After all, he was a man with family, friends, all that, and I respect that. But as far as his "contributions" to jazz, I basically feel nothing but scorn and contempt. Felt that quite strongly while he was alive, not going to change that now that he's not.

Again, no personal disrespect intended, and fullest sympathies extended at that level.

[7/4]

On a personal level, hey, RIP & all that. After all, he was a man with family, friends, all that, and I respect that. But as far as his "contributions" to jazz, I basically feel nothing but scorn and contempt. Felt that quite strongly while he was alive, not going to change that now that he's not.

Again, no personal disrespect intended, and fullest sympathies extended at that level.

That was pretty nimble.

[Christiern]

Thank you Jim, I'll second that. To be perfectly honest, I can't think of anything George Butler ever did to advance the cause of jazz. Having all but destroyed Blue Note, he came to Columbia at a time when they needed to have someone black and visible, and worked hard to bring us Wynton. Woody Shaw? Nonsense, that was not his doing. Sorry he died, but it is a loss suffered by jazz.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Christiern

[JSngry]

On a personal level, hey, RIP & all that. After all, he was a man with family, friends, all that, and I respect that. But as far as his "contributions" to jazz, I basically feel nothing but scorn and contempt. Felt that quite strongly while he was alive, not going to change that now that he's not.

Again, no personal disrespect intended, and fullest sympathies extended at that level.

That was pretty nimble.

Yet sincere. I mean, there's no need to be hating on a man's entire life/existence/whatever (or giving the impression that you are) when your object of disregard is just one portion of it.

You gotta remember, I was there for the whole "Blue Note Hits A New Note" thing at the worst possible time - young, energetic, idealistic, and so not understanding why Blue Note was releasing John Lee & Gerry Brown records or why Bobbi Humphrey was getting bigger props (and from the sound of the records, budgets) from the label than was Horace Silver.

I will say this though - I do believe that Butler gave the go-ahead for the reissue series that Cuscuna & Lourie soon turned into the Vault Exploration From God, so good for him on that one, and for not killing it along the way.

All this to say that by stating my disrespect for what he did at BN & Columbia, I do not in any way mean to imply disrespect for the man as a man, including as a successful businessman or as a visible African-American in a role not usually occupied by same. The only reason I even said anything in the first place was because I started reading big ups to the cat for promoting Wood Shaw at Columbia, and again, to the best of my knowledge, the reality was anything but that.

Edited April 20, 2008 by JSngry

[Christiern]

The fact that he insisted on using the honorary "Dr." title says to me that he might have been aware of his own unimportance. I guess there's something to say for that.

[sidewinder]

I will say this though - I do believe that Butler gave the go-ahead for the reissue series that Cuscuna & Lourie soon turned into the Vault Exploration From God, so good for him on that one, and for not killing it along the way.

Yes, we can be truly grateful for that (most accountants would have canned that one before it could get to gestation). I was thinking he'd signed Shaw too but no, you're right, Bruce Lundvall it was.

Edited April 20, 2008 by sidewinder

[Chuck Nessa]

FWIW, in the Billboard story about Butler taking control of BN he talked about the history of the label - and he listed Bix as one of the early artists.

[Christiern]

FWIW, in the Billboard story about Butler taking control of BN he talked about the history of the label - and he listed Bix as one of the early artists.

I know he developed Altzheimers, but even back in the 70s he wasn't wrapped too tight. He told me on a couple of occasions that he always listened to my radio show--I didn't have one back then. Most of us knew he had been hired for all the wrong reasons, so we kinda humored him. He seemed nice enough, he just didn't have a clue when it came to this business. In a way, Sony/Columbia used him.

[Chuck Nessa]

Deft.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I've always said that George was the most potent argument against affirmative action, but it wasn't his fault. He was just there; like Clyde Ankle in Stan Freberg's "Old payola roll blues".

And if you were there, wouldn't you say yes?

RIP.

MG

[AllenLowe]

Chris, you don't have a radio show any more? Than who the hell are these voices I keep hearing in my head?

[Christiern]

Allen, an educated guess would be that you are hearing Freddy Cusick and Irving Brodsky, they never stopped rambling. If it's any consolation, I hear them, too, but rarely around Yugoslavian holidays.

[AllenLowe]

thanks Chris, I was getting worried there for a minute, but you've calmed me down - sorry, gotta go now, as they're playing Johnny Hammond Smith with Sonny Williams - wonder whatever happened to him -

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Back to George Butler.

I've just been listening to Moacir Santos' album "Maestro", a 1972 Blue Note, and finding, once again, that it's a marvellous album: chock full of interest; great to dance to; soul renewing; quite beautiful. This album is so far from Alfred and Francis' ideas that there's no doubt in my mind that it wouldn't have been made if either of them had been running Blue Note in those days. I can't read who produced it - the print's too small and faint. But George was in charge and must have said yes to it.

So, thanks George.

MG

[AllenLowe]

I actually met George Butler once, when I was running the New Haven jazz fest he was interested in a co-sponsorship. He was perfectly nice but obviously had not a clue about anything from music to finances - had a nice office, though, good view -

[JSngry]

Back to George Butler.

I've just been listening to Moacir Santos' album "Maestro", a 1972 Blue Note, and finding, once again, that it's a marvellous album: chock full of interest; great to dance to; soul renewing; quite beautiful. This album is so far from Alfred and Francis' ideas that there's no doubt in my mind that it wouldn't have been made if either of them had been running Blue Note in those days. I can't read who produced it - the print's too small and faint. But George was in charge and must have said yes to it.

So, thanks George.

MG

Well, Lion/Wolff's did give us Sabu's Palo Conga, but that was a blatant "outside the box" release from them...

There were other good BN albums released during Butler's tenure, no doubt, even if on some of them he was "Executive Producer", which to me has usually always meant that that's the person who approved/funded the project, not too much else. Important indeed, but... Something like The New Heritage Keyboard Quartet was a pretty wacky idea in concept - I mean, a quartet with two pianos as the lead instruments? Get outta here! But when those two pianists are Roland Hanna & Mickey Tucker, hey. And of course, the Hutcherson & Silver sides (although some of the former's seemed to suffer from lack of planning/budget/whatever as the years went by, for whatever reason). The Eddie Henderson sides weren't bad, although they didn't in any way measure up to the Capricorn sides which preceded them. And there were a few others, some not-sucky (but not great either, although that's a pattern long in place before and after his BN releases...) Chico Hamilton sides, etc. Some of it, like the Marlena Shaw & Carmen McRae albums, were actually not-at-all-bad albums from a jazz-pop vocal standpoint. And one or two of the albums by Ronnie Laws (produced by Wayne Henderson, IIRC) & Noel Pointer have held up as fine examples of that particular thing. So it wasn't all doom and gloom.

But the overwhelming percentage of it was. And all of what got the label's "backing" was. And damn near everybody had done better work before and would do better afterwards, except for Bobbi Humphrey, who was a perfect, faceless fit for the Mizell brother's concept and whose later work exposed this lack of native personality with blunt fatality, & Horace, who did what he did no matter where he did it. Overall, I look at it like A) leaving aside the emotional ties to the "Blue Note Legacy" (the "defacing" of which was, as history has since shown, both inevitable, ongoing, and most likely inevitable), most of the music that Butler sanctioned was nowhere near as good of it's "type" as it could/should have been & B) there was an ongoing trend of artists in the "Blue Note Hits A New Note" bag coming out the gate with a strong first album & then not following up in terms of either quality or sales, which in this type of "commercial" music is sorta the object of the game. Both of those to me indicate the lack of a seasoned/knowing "steering" hand at the helm.

So for me, the bone of contention remains that as much that the "new" Blue Note wasn't the old one in terms of musical "style" (although that was very much a flashpoint for me at the time), it's that the vast majority of it was just not worthy in terms of ongoing quality. You can be "commercial" and still bring lasting musicality & expression to the table. And so, so much of the 70s BN music just didn't do that. They rode into town on a rip-snorting bucking bronc, but once that horse started to fade, it certainly appeared that nobody who should have had an idea what to do next had one, much less any clues about how to treat it in order to keep it strong & fiesty. They just kept riding it until it dropped dead.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Back to George Butler.

I've just been listening to Moacir Santos' album "Maestro", a 1972 Blue Note, and finding, once again, that it's a marvellous album: chock full of interest; great to dance to; soul renewing; quite beautiful. This album is so far from Alfred and Francis' ideas that there's no doubt in my mind that it wouldn't have been made if either of them had been running Blue Note in those days. I can't read who produced it - the print's too small and faint. But George was in charge and must have said yes to it.

So, thanks George.

MG

Well, Lion/Wolff's did give us Sabu's Palo Conga, but that was a blatant "outside the box" release from them...

There were other good BN albums released during Butler's tenure, no doubt, even if on some of them he was "Executive Producer", which to me has usually always meant that that's the person who approved/funded the project, not too much else. Important indeed, but... Something like The New Heritage Keyboard Quartet was a pretty wacky idea in concept - I mean, a quartet with two pianos as the lead instruments? Get outta here! But when those two pianists are Roland Hanna & Mickey Tucker, hey. And of course, the Hutcherson & Silver sides (although some of the former's seemed to suffer from lack of planning/budget/whatever as the years went by, for whatever reason). The Eddie Henderson sides weren't bad, although they didn't in any way measure up to the Capricorn sides which preceded them. And there were a few others, some not-sucky (but not great either, although that's a pattern long in place before and after his BN releases...) Chico Hamilton sides, etc. Some of it, like the Marlena Shaw & Carmen McRae albums, were actually not-at-all-bad albums from a jazz-pop vocal standpoint. And one or two of the albums by Ronnie Laws (produced by Wayne Henderson, IIRC) & Noel Pointer have held up as fine examples of that particular thing. So it wasn't all doom and gloom.

Indeed - but almost all of what was good is stuff one can imagine Lion or Wolff doing had they been in charge - and yes, in many cases doing better. The Santos would not have been made, I feel. I didn't know about the New Heritage Keyboard Quartet. I can kind of imagine Lion or Wolff going along with that idea, if it's Hanna and Tucker. Actually, it's hard to imagine George Butler being keen on such an idea...

MG

[andybleaden]

Hindsight is a wonderful tool.

What else could he/they have done at the time?

I for one wish he was not credited with the demise of Blue Note and it's jazz content.....could it have been any different considering what was going on at the time?

[Christiern]

Hindsight is a wonderful tool.

What else could he/they have done at the time?

I for one wish he was not credited with the demise of Blue Note and it's jazz content.....could it have been any different considering what was going on at the time?

You bet it could!

For those of us who were around and in the business at the time, this is not hindsight but, rather, first-hand recollection. Sometimes presumption might appear to be a wonderful tool, but it is inevitably conquered by that which really occurred.

[andybleaden]

But there were still some gems..already mentioned and some not which are still worth a listen.

I take your point but who else was still keeping the message alive and selling?