Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Jacques Butler was born on April 29, 1909 in Washington, D.C. but didn’t pick up the trumpet until his late teens. He began playing professionally with Cliff Jackson and Horace Henderson in New York City, then joined Marion Hardy’s Alabamians in 1931 for a year.

Leading his own ensemble in New York and touring from 1934-1935, Jacques also made recordings with Willie Bryant before relocating to Europe in 1936, where the two performed together until 1939. During that period he played with Frank “Big Boy” Goudie as well as with his own bands. He would tour Scandinavia before WWII and in 1940 he became well known in the Norwegian jazz community, and while visiting Oslo he recorded one 78 rpm. Returning to New York City that same year he played and recorded with Mercer Ellington, Art Hodes, Mezz Mezzrow, and Bingie Madison.

After a brief stay in Toronto he moved back to Europe in 1950, remaining there until 1968 as a regular at the La Cigale club in Paris, France. He appeared in the 1961 Paul Newman/Sidney Poitier film Paris Blues. In the 1970s he came home to the States and was seen working often in New York City, as a sideman with Clyde Bernhardt among others, and in the studio.

Trumpeter and vocalist Jacques Butler, who was sometimes listed as Jack, died in 2003. The date of his death is unknown.

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