The one thought going through mind during my 9 hour drive back NYC last Monday going 60mph in the slow lane with the engine light on, was: "...so worth it..." I had a great time in Ohio over the weekend, and I hope to be back sometime soon.

Needless to say, I was surprised to come across this preview article in the Oberlin Review for my show there last Sunday. Check it out!

Alum Johnny Butler to Play with Feveband
By Will Roane, Arts Editor

If students like their jazz with a side of tots, Feveband’s performance this Sunday at 9pm, with special guest saxophonist-composer Johnny Butler, OC ’06, just might hit the spot.

Described as “mind-blowing” by www. somethingelsereviews.com, Butler’s debut album, Solo features the saxophonist playing alongside his laptop, morphing the sound of the instrument into a cacophony if space-age phrases. All the while he maintains the grounded, viscerally emotive sound of the saxophone, widely considered to have the tone closest to the human voice of any instrument.

Butler, who just completed a national tour to support Solo, will stop by The Feve with his laptop in tow. Ready to wow the audience with music that stretches the limits of jazz, he uses disjointed melodies to create harmonies on which to build additional melodies. Though Butler’s collaboration with Feveband is sure to please, listeners should make no mistake - Butler can, if necessary, effectively be his own band.

Butler’s technique is relatively unheard of in the jazz world, particularly for straight-ahead jazz musicians. AllAboutJazz.com described the looping of his horn through the laptop - which creates music that is both profoundly lonely and full of life - as “familiar, yet ethereal.” Indeed, the young saxophonist’s sound creates that uncanny effect of familiarity within something exotic. Fans of avant-garde musicians like saxophonist John Zorn may draw parallels to Butler’s music, but they will certainly not feel as if theyve heard it all before.

Solo features four original compositions by Butler, from the otherworldly “Cathedral” to the hauntingly space “Eulogy.” Despite his prevalent use of a laptop, the saxophonist-composer’s album was recorded live, in real time, without any subsequent overdubbing. For this reason, Butler’s music maintains a special status between jazz and electronic music, two genres that have had a relatively tumultuous relationship. Perhaps steadfastly straight-ahead trumpeter Wynton Marsalis wouldn’t take to Bulter’s performance, but that hasn’t stopped the saxophonist from playing prolifically in and around New York City since his graduation from Oberlin.

So on Sunday night, if you find yourself at The Feve with a basket of tots at your disposal, prepare yourself to hear music that tests the limits of jazz.

Labels: 60 mph, engine light, Oberlin Review, Solo