Don Kiethly Butterfield (April 1, 1923 – November 27, 2006) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and classical

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

player.

Biography

Butterfield began to play the tuba in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. He wanted to play

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, but the band director assigned him to tuba instead. He joined the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and reached the rank of technician fifth grade. After serving in the U.S. Military from 1942–46, he studied the instrument at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

. Butterfield started his professional career in the late 1940s playing for the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

radio networks. He played in orchestras, including the

American Symphony The ''American Symphony'' is a symphony for orchestra by the American composer Adam Schoenberg. The work was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony and was completed in early 2011. It was first performed by the Kansas City Symphony under the d ...

, on albums by

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

until he became a full time member at the

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

. In the 1950s, Butterfield switched to jazz, backing such musicians as

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The year ...

, Jimmy Smith, and

Moondog Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), known professionally as Moondog, was an American composer, musician, performer, music theoretician, poet and inventor of musical instruments. Largely self-taught as a composer, his ...

. He led his own sextet for a 1955 album on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

and played at the 1958

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

. In the 1970s, he worked as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

. He played on recordings for a variety of artists and on television and

film soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s, including ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

''. ''The Grove Dictionary of Music'' calls Butterfield's playing style, "uncommonly florid, a skill that made him of value as a jazz musician... He was one of the first modern jazz players who, rather than simply marking out the bass line, rediscovered the possibility of bringing to the instrument a facility akin to that of a trumpeter." Butterfield played an 8-foot-long trumpet on the May 21, 1962 episode of the ''

I've Got a Secret ''I've Got a Secret'' is an American panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show, ''What's My Line ...

'' television program (season 10, episode 519).video
/sup> Butterfield suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 2005, which left him unable to play, and he died in 2006 from a stroke-related illness.

Discography

As sideman

With

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

*'' African Waltz'' (Riverside, 1961) *''

Domination Domination or dominant may refer to: Society * World domination, which is mainly a conspiracy theory * Colonialism in which one group (usually a nation) invades another region for material gain or to eliminate competition * Chauvinism in which ...

'' (Capitol, 1965) With

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

*''

Autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

'' (Atlantic, 1964) With

David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.

*'' Subway Night'' (RCA, 1972) With

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Ge ...

*'' Brookmeyer'' (Vik, 1956) *''

Jazz Concerto Grosso ''Jazz Concerto Grosso'' (full title ''Gerry Mulligan Bob Brookmeyer Play Phil Sunkel's Jazz Concerto Grosso'') is an album by American jazz musicians Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer featuring performances of compositions by Phil Sunkel recorded ...

'' (ABC-Paramount, 1957) with

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

and Phil Sunkel *'' Portrait of the Artist'' (Atlantic, 1960) With

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

*''

Blues - The Common Ground Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

'' (Verve, 1968) *'' Night Song'' (Verve, 1969) With

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

*''

Jazz Lab ''Jazz Lab'' is an album by American jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd and saxophonist Gigi Gryce, released in 1957 by Columbia.Gigi Gryce Gigi Gryce (born George General Grice Jr.; November 28, 1925 – March 14, 1983), later Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. While his performing career was relatively short, ...

*'' I'm Tryin' to Get Home'' (Blue Note, 1965) With

Teddy Charles Teddy Charles (April 13, 1928 – April 16, 2012) was an American jazz musician and composer, whose instruments were the vibraphone, piano, and drums. Career Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, United States, he ...

*''

Word from Bird ''Word from Bird'' is an album by American jazz vibraphonist Teddy Charles released on the Atlantic label in 1957.Cohen, N.The Teddy Charles Discographyaccessed September 8, 2015 Reception Allmusic calls the album "enjoyable". Track listing '' ...

'' (Atlantic, 1957) With

Jimmy Cleveland James Milton Cleveland (May 3, 1926 – August 23, 2008) was an American jazz trombonist born in Wartrace, Tennessee.

*'' Cleveland Style'' (EmArcy, 1958) *'' A Map of Jimmy Cleveland'' (Mercury, 1959) With

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

*''

Symbiosis Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

'' (MPS, 1974) With

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double ...

*''

Brass Shout ''Brass Shout'' is an album by trumpeter Art Farmer, featuring a brass ensemble arranged and conducted by Benny Golson. Recorded in 1959, the album was originally released on the United Artists label.Baroque Sketches'' (Columbia, 1967) With

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

*''

The Blues Roar ''The Blues Roar'' (also released as ''Screamin' Blues'') is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded in 1964 and originally released on the Mainstream label.Edwards, D., Callahan, Eyries, P., Watts, ...

'' (Mainstream, 1965) With

*''

Gillespiana ''Gillespiana'' is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie featuring compositions by Lalo Schifrin recorded in 1960 and released on the Verve label.

'' (Verve, 1960) *'' Carnegie Hall Concert'' (Verve, 1961) With Urbie Green *'' All About Urbie Green and His Big Band'' (ABC-Paramount, 1956) ;With

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

*'' The Hawk in Hi Fi'' (RCA Victor, 1956) With

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath w ...

*'' Swamp Seed'' (Riverside, 1963) With

Roland Kirk Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...

*'' The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra'' (Mercury, 1963) With

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

*''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'' (Atlantic, 1962) With

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

*''

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

'' (Atlantic, 1974) With

Gil Mellé Gilbert John Mellé (31 December 1931 – 28 October 2004) was an American artist, jazz musician and film composer. Life and career In the 1950s, Mellé created the cover art for albums by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins. Me ...

*'' 5 Impressions of Color'' (Blue Note, 1955) *''

Gil's Guests ''Gil's Guests'' is an album by American saxophonist Gil Mellé recorded in 1956 and released on the Prestige label.

'' (Prestige, 1963) With

*''

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady ''The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady'' is a studio album by American jazz double bassist, composer, and bandleader Charles Mingus. It was recorded on January 20, 1963, and released in July of that year by Impulse! Records. The album consists of ...

'' (Impulse!, 1963) *''

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus ''Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus'' is a studio album by the American jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus which was released on January 9, 1964. Background Mingus collaborated with arranger/orchestrator Bob Hammer to score the music for ...

'' (Impulse!, 1963) With the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), ...

*''

Plastic Dreams "Plastic Dreams" is the debut single by Dutch producer Jaydee, and is generally considered to be one of the classics of the house music genre (initially released on R&S Records). It was successful in European countries and also achieved success i ...

'' (Atlantic, 1971) With James Moody *'' Moody with Strings'' (Argo, 1961) *'' Moody and the Brass Figures'' (Milestone, 1966) With

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

*''

Movin' Wes ''Movin' Wes'' is an album by the American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1964. It reached number 18 on the ''Billboard'' jazz albums chart in 1967, his second album to reach the charts after '' Bumpin. History ''Movin' Wes'' was ...

'' (Verve, 1964) With

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...

*'' Delightfulee'' (Blue Note, 1966) With

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...

*'' Impressions of Phaedra'' (United Artists Jazz, 1962) *'' The Kennedy Dream'' (Impulse!, 1967) With

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

*'' Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band!'' (Verve, 1962) With

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...

*''

Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass ''Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded for the MetroJazz label, later reissued on Verve Records as ''Sonny Rollins/Brass - Sonny Rollins/Trio''.

'' (Metro Jazz, 1958) With

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...

*'' New Fantasy'' (Verve, 1964) *''

Once a Thief and Other Themes ''Once a Thief and Other Themes'' is an album of film and television themes by Argentine composer, pianist and conductor Lalo Schifrin recorded in 1965 and released on the Verve label.Payne, DLalo Schifrin discographyaccessed March 14, 2012 The ...

'' (Verve, 1965) With Jimmy Smith *'' The Cat'' (Verve, 1964) *''

Hoochie Coochie Man "Hoochie Coochie Man" (originally titled "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man") is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song makes reference to hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a sto ...

'' (Verve, 1966) With

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the ...

*'' My Fair Lady Loves Jazz'' (Impulse!, 1957) With

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

*'' Top and Bottom Brass'' (Riverside, 1959) With The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra *'' New Life'' (A&M, 1975) With

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform music of Afro-Jazz, ...

*''

Several Shades of Jade ''Several Shades of Jade'' is a 1963 album by Cal Tjader arranged by Lalo Schifrin. It peaked at 79 on the Billboard 200. Reception Stewart Mason reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that of Tjader and Schifrin's collaboration that it was " ...

'' (Verve, 1963) With

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...

*'' Nightwings'' (Fantasy, 1977)

References

Acclaimed tuba player dies
Associated Press, November 29, 2006 (retrieved via FOXNews on January 31, 2020).

External links

*
Arlington National Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Don 1923 births 2006 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American session musicians American jazz tubists American male jazz musicians American classical tubists Juilliard School alumni People from Clifton, New Jersey People from Centralia, Washington 20th-century American musicians 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American male musicians United States Army Air Forces soldiers Jazz musicians from Washington (state)