Home » Jazz Musicians » Bett Butler

Bett Butler

Award-winning Texas songwriter/pianist/vocalist Bett Butler swims upstream with tracks that defy categorization. Writes Austin music critic Michael Corcoran: “A true artist....Her forte is creating rich story songs…we have to call jazz because the right word hasn’t been invented.” In historic and culturally rich San Antonio, Texas, she co-owns Mandala Music Production with bassist/composer/producer Joël Dilley, where they play fetch with their boxer Mingus and create music licensed for use on HBO, Discovery Channel, Cooking, Travel, and Playboy Channels, and more.

Of her debut album SHORT STORIES, Robert Lindquist of SINGER MAGAZINE wrote, “Her poetry and vision, combined with keyboard prowess and sterling vocalizations, amuse and entertain track after track....This CD is a sheer joy to listen to." Her second album MYTHS & FABLES won a performance grant from the Artist Foundation, and her third, AMERICAN SAMPLER, placed in the top 10 in the iTunes Great American Songbook category its first week in release and won Best Cabaret Album in the Independent Music Awards (where she was recently a nominee in the Spoken Word category). Her latest release, WINTER LULLABY: SONGS FOR THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, fuses classical, jazz, and world music with songs in multiple languages—many with her own translations—plus originals capturing the complexities of the season.

Awards

"When Love Has Left the Room" 1st Place, Jazz Category, 2006 International Songwriting Competition; Performance Grant, San Antonio Artist Foundation; Fred Weiss Memorial Grant for Professional Development,Texas Music Coalition; San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame; Artist of the Month, City of San Antonio; Nominee, Spoken Word category, Independent Music Awards; Winner, Best Cabaret Album, Independent Music Awards

Jazz This Week: Marco Benevento, John Scofield Trio, Matt Ulery's Loom Trio, Bett Butler, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
September 27, 2012

There's lots of jazz and creative music going on this weekend in and around St. Louis, including visits from a New York keyboardist, a Chicago bassist, a singer from Texas, and the return of one of the top guitarists in electric jazz. Let's go the highlights... Tonight, keyboard player Marco Benevento brings his trio to the Old Rock House, with the Mike Dillon Band opening. (Given that Dillon also is the percussionist in Garage A Trois, which also includes Benevento, ...
read more

Performance / Tour

Coming Attractions Include Jimmy Herring, Snarky Puppy, Bett Butler

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
August 15, 2012

Catching up with the contents of the email inbox here at StLJN HQ, here's info on three upcoming shows by touring musicians coming to town to promote new releases that may be of interest to StLJN readers: Guitarist Jimmy Herring will be coming to St. Louis to perform at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 29 at the Old Rock House. Herring, who's currently working with the band Widespread Panic, has played with a “who's who" of the jam band world, including ...
read more

105

Recording

Bett Butler Releases American Sampler

Source: Bett Butler
May 2, 2012

THE AWARD-WINNING SONGWRITER JOINS VIRTUOSO BASSIST/COMPOSER JOËL DILLEY IN AN INTIMATE EXPLORATION OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK. “What might well be the most honest, haunting and intense version of 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?' committed to CD.” —Jim Beal, San Antonio Express-News “Breathes new life into old songs with fresh arrangements and a flair for the exotic.” —KUT Radio host Jay Trachtenburg, Austin Chronicle SAN ANTONIO TX: Jazz vocalist/pianist Bett Butler―better known for her off-beat songwriting about dark subject ...
read more

“Butler is a unique package....Her voice, a smooth, slightly husky alto that can slide up to thrilling high notes, has a comfortable, soothing timbre; but she changes attitudes from song to song with the facility of a trained actor, striking a balance somewhere between the silken elegance of Norah Jones and the edginess of Patricia Barber....I marveled at the spell this singer could weave...recalling similar moments listening to Billie Holiday, Betty Carter, Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell. Bett Butler brought me to that place where music can salve the deepest wound, mend the heart most broken.— John Swenson, United Press International