Remembering Our Friend Henry Butler

It was with great sadness that we received the news of Henry Butler’s death this Monday. Denver was fortunate to have bluesman Henry Butler in our community. We will always remember how he played those ivories. Those hands boogied that keyboard like no one else’s. His classically trained voice took us from the blues to someplace we had never been before and would give anything to return to, again and again. It was something only he had and that we will forever miss. Butler was considered a premier advocate of the great New Orleans jazz and blues piano tradition. He was a ten-time Pinetop Perkins (formerly W. C. Handy) Best Blues Instrumentalist Award nominee. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues, and R&B, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace.

Rest in Peace, Henry Butler. You will be missed.