Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/20/2014
7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Location
Miner Auditorium, SFJAZZ Center
Category(ies)
Add This Event to Your Calendar
“Their collaboration is both historically aware and fully prepared to cut loose.” — The New York Times
“The pride of New Orleans and a visionistical down-home cat.” — Dr. John on Henry Butler
“For two decades, jazz trumpeter Steven Bernstein has been stretching music in new directions.” — NPR’s All Things Considered
- Henry Butler — piano, vocals
- Steven Bernstein — trumpet, slide trumpet, alto horn
The Hot 9
- Curtis Fowlkes — trombone
- Charlie Burnham — violin
- Doug Wieselman — clarinets, tenor saxophone
- Peter Apfelbaum — tenor & soprano saxophone
- Erik Lawrence — baritone & soprano saxophone
- Matt Munisteri — guitar
- Luques Curtis — bass
- Donald Edwards — drums
A stomping and irresistibly grooving conspiracy between two of jazz’s great renegades, Butler, Bernstein & The Hot 9 combines the outrageously inventive slide trumpet of Berkeley-raised Steven Bernstein with the two-fisted pianistics of New Orleans icon Henry Butler. Best known for Sex Mob, his omnivorous quartet that turns anything from James Bond themes, Prince funk, Fellini scores and Lynyrd Skynyrd anthems into potent vehicles for improvisation, Bernstein is also a brilliant arranger who has written for Bill Frisell, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull and Elton John. Butler first gained attention in 1986 when the revived Impulse label released his scintillating debut Fivin’ Around, a straight-ahead session featuring heavyweights like Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins. But the stylistically expansive pianist was raised on an extravagantly rich diet of grooves, and with each subsequent release he’s unveiled his mastery of jazz and blues idioms, from his rollicking New Orleans R&B keyboard work to his powerhouse soul-drenched vocals. Now Butler’s on hand for the third incarnation of Impulse! Records, which recently released his Hot 9 collaboration with Bernstein Viper’s Drag, music so timeless it could power a 1920s Harlem rent party or a 2020 rave up. Join us for this blissful combination of New York energy and New Orleans swagger.