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Butch Warren
Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith's, as well as with altoist and bandleader Rick Henderson at the historic Howard Theater on 7th and T Streets.
In 1958, he moved to New York City to play with Kenny Dorham, appearing on his first recording, with Dorham, in January 1960 with saxophonist Charles Davis, pianist Tommy Flanagan and drummer Buddy Enlow. He stayed in New York for the rest of his musical career, mainly as house bassist for Blue Note records.
A popular sideman, he also recorded with Miles Davis, Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Sonny Clark, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, and Stanley Turrentine. He played with Thelonious Monk in 1963 and 1964 and then moved back to Washington, D.C., where he briefly worked in television before becoming seriously ill.
He rarely soloed, preferring to accompany other musicians, and never recorded as a leader but performed as a sideman on many albums, including Dexter Gordon's Go and A Swingin' Affair (1962), Herbie Hancock's debut Takin Off (1962), Joe Henderson's Page One (1963), Jackie McLean's Vertigo (1959) and Hipnosis (1967), and many recordings with Thelonious Monk.
Following his illness Warren played professionally only occasionally. However, he played a five-year regular gig in Washington D.C.'s Adams Morgan neighborhood until October 2010. These days, Warren plays alternating Tuesday nights at Tryst and the Black Fox Lounge in Washington, D.C., as well as occasional special performances with fellow Blue Note alumni pianist Freddie Redd.
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The Feelin's Good
by Greg Simmons
The mists of time have a way of obscuring the motives behind people's decisions. “What were they thinking?" and “It must have seemed like a good idea at the time" must be among the most universal human sentiments. In the music business, a session gets recorded, and often it gets released, but occasionally it doesn't. Sometimes a tape sits on a shelf collecting dust for fifty years, leaving later-day musical archeologists to ponder why. Maybe that session gets cut up, ...
Continue ReadingKenny Dorham: Una Mas
by Greg Simmons
Trumpeter Kenny Dorham's Una Mas was one of 1963's best records. The thought of hearing it reissued on ultra-high quality vinyl by the good folks at Music Matters should make jazz heads swoon. With its melding of hard-bop, bossa nova, and the blues, Una Mas is a prime example of the memorable vamps that Blue Note favored at the time, finding ultimate success later that year with Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder. Dorham was a prolific recording artist for ...
Continue ReadingButch Warren
by Erik R. Quick
A couple of years ago, advertisements appeared in the local free DC weekly for informal Wednesday evening jam sessions featuring Butch Warren at Twins Lounge. I recall eagerly calling the club to ask whether this was the former bassist who had extensively recorded on many a classic Blue Note album. Although the club didn't offer confirmation, I sensed that the former Washingtonian was once again flirting with music in his hometown. But no sooner had I decided to make the ...
Continue ReadingThelonious Monk: The Classic Quartet
by Chris May
Intermittently available over the years on various labels and in various guises (most recently as Thelonious Monk Quartet in Japan and 1963: In Japan), this album catches Monk on the cusp between his unflaggingly inventive, mould-breaking Riverside years and his less consistently exploratory, later period with CBS.
Clocking in at just over 38 minutes, The Classic Quartet is a set the group recorded for Japanese TV during a short tour of the country in May, 1963. The sound, enhanced from ...
Continue ReadingThelonious Monk: It's Monk's Time
by Jerry D'Souza
The restoration campaign of the Monk catalog is as welcome as any such endeavor could be. Here is the opening of the doors to the music, the way it was and the way it transpired before it took the shape that first came out on record. Amendments have been made by restoring the edited portions, the prime factor that gives one the impetus to revisit the music. Add unreleased takes and remastered sound, and the lure is complete. ...
Continue ReadingThelonious Monk: It's Monk's Time
by David Rickert
It's Monk's Time is in many ways the least compromising of Monk's Columbia records and the polar opposite of a record like Criss Cross (1962) due to the variety ' lengthy renditions of tunes, a couple of solo performances, and a few obscure originals dusted off for the occasion. The session kicks off with what appears to be a solo recording of 'Lulu's Back in Town,' only to evolve from clunky stride into a full-blown quartet version after three minutes, ...
Continue ReadingJazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) was an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith's, as well as with altoist and bandleader Rick Henderson at the historic ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) was an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith's, as well as with altoist and bandleader Rick Henderson at the historic ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) was an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith's, as well as with altoist and bandleader Rick Henderson at the historic ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) was an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith\'s... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) was an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith\'s... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) was an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith\'s... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today! Butch Warren (born in 1939) was an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith\'s... Read more. Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today! Butch Warren (born in 1939) is an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith\'s... Read more. Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) is an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith\'s... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Butch Warren
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Butch Warren's birthday today!
Butch Warren (born in 1939) is an American jazz double bassist who plays in the hard bop genre. He was especially active in the late-50s and the 1960s. Contents Warren began playing professionally at age 14 in a local Washington, D. C. band led by his father, Edward Warren. He later worked with other local groups, including Stuff Smith\'s... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website ...
read more
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