Count Basie Orchestra trombonist Isrea Butler has released a 6-track album rich in sublime sophistication and delivered by a stunning quartet. Congo Lament — available on Bandcamp and all major streaming platforms — primarily features compositions by Bennie Green and saxophonist Ike Quebec.
Fellow Basie bandmate, tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence, whose conversations with Butler led to the birth of this recording, joins the trombonist on this CD, with an all-Nevada rhythm section consisting of pianist and UNLV Director of Jazz Studies Dave Loeb, bassist Steve Flora and veteran drummer Bob Chmel. Save for the lovely rendition of the ballad standard, “Pennies from Heaven” from Bennie Green Swings the Blues, the remaining six selections come from Quebec’s album Easy Living, which also features the trombonist, and was recorded in 1962. Also including is Green’s Latin-tinged “Congo Lament” and “B.G.’s Groove;” Quebec’s bouncy, “I.Q. Shuffle;” another standard ballad “Easy Living;” Stanley Turrentine’s blues, “Que’s Pills” and Ma Rainey’s gutbucket-grooved classic, “See See Rider.”
On all of the tracks, Butler’s buoyant and beautiful trombone lines combine the best of Johnson’s bebop fluency and Green’s down-home swing. As Butler writes in his liner notes, “When I first heard Bennie Green playing alongside one of my other trombone heroes, J.J. Johnson, I was captivated by their sound and style. So, for my debut recording as a leader, I needed to pay tribute to these two jazz greats that still ring within me so deeply.”
Butler’s first record as a leader comes after decades of being one the most durable and dynamic trombonists on the scene, as the lead trombonist with the Count Basie Orchestra—which won a Grammy for Large Jazz Ensemble Album, Basie Swings the Blues in 2023—and with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Mingus Big Band, Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and the Jimmy Heath Orchestra. His recordings as a sideman include Eric Person’s Thoughts on God and Eleven by Tommy Igoe and the Birdland Big Band. Butler has also performed classical music with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Gateways Music Festival.
Congo Lament
Vegas Records
released on June 1, 2024
visit Isrea Butler for more info
catalog number: VR 1026
UPC Code: 198500538823
total time 40:52