John Boutté (born November 3, 1958)John Boutte biography at All About Jazz
is 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 m ...

singer based in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Louisiana, who has been active since the mid-1990s. He is known for diverse music style that goes beyond jazz to R&B,

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and blues. He is the younger brother of the jazz and gospel singer Lillian Boutté, and a relative of legendary cartoonist

George Herriman George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip '' Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience ...

Life and career

Boutté was born into a 7th Ward Creole-

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family in New Orleans. Exposed to the local culture such as Mardi Gras parades and

jazz funeral A jazz funeral is a funeral procession accompanied by a brass band, in the tradition of New Orleans, Louisiana. History The term "jazz funeral" was long in use by observers from elsewhere, but was generally disdained as inappropriate by most New ...

s since childhood, Boutté also grew up listening to R&B music of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the like. He played trumpet and cornet in marching bands in his junior high and high school days. During this time, he also formed an a cappella group and sang on the streets. Biography on Allmusic/ref> Boutté studied business at

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, upon the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Cathol ...

where he was in ROTC. After he graduated, he was commissioned in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

where he served for the next four years. When he returned, he started to work for a credit union instead of entering into the music industry. When he met Stevie Wonder, he started to seriously consider becoming a professional singer. Wonder acknowledged his talent and recommended him to pursue career in music. He soon joined Lillian on her tour to Europe, and his professional career started. He was featured on Lillian's live album, ''Gospel United'', released in 1994. In 1993, he released an album under his own name titled ''Through the Eyes of a Child''. He was the featured guest vocalist on Cuban group Cubanismo!'s ''Mardi Gras Mambo'', recorded in New Orleans. In the recent years, Boutté has been working with ex-

Cowboy Mouth Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...

guitarist and singer,

Paul Sanchez Paul Sanchez is a New Orleans-born and based American guitarist and a singer-songwriter. Sanchez was a founding member of the New Orleans band Cowboy Mouth. He was a guitarist and one of the primary singers and songwriters for the band from 19 ...

which led to a collaborated effort ''Stew Called New Orleans'' released in 2009. Boutté was also featured on

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...

's 2009 album, '' Piety Street'', singing the lead on three tracks. Singers Tricia Boutté (Sister Teedy) and Tanya E. Boutté are John's nieces. Boutté's "Treme Song" on his ''Jambalaya'' album is the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

of HBO's series, '' Treme''. Boutté appears in Treme's Season 1 Finale, serenading Kim Dickens' character before she leaves New Orleans; Season 2, episode 1, performing several songs (including "Accentuate the Positive"); and sings onstage in Treme Season 3, episode 10.

Discography

John Boutte-The Boutte Family Sunday Praise

Albums

* 1993: ''Through the Eyes of a Child'' (Dinosaur) * 1997: ''Scotch and Soda'' ( Boutteworks johnboutte.com) * 1998: ''Friends'' * 2001: ''At the Foot of Canal Street'' (Boutteworks johnboutte.com) * 2003: John Boutté & Uptown Okra / ''Carry Me Home'' (Boutteworks johnboutte.com)) * 2003: ''Jambalaya'' (Boutteworks johnboutte.com) * 2007: ''John Boutté and Conspirare'(Boutteworks johnboutte.com) * 2008: ''Good Neighbor'' (Boutteworks johboutte.com) * 2009: John Boutté and Paul Sanchez / ''Stew Called New Orleans'' (Threadhead) * 2012: ''All About Everything'' (Boutteworks johnboutte.com) * 2019: ''A "Well Tempered" Boutté'' (Boutteworks johnboutte.com)

Guest appearances

* 1994: Lillian Boutté with Gospel United / ''Live at Odense Koncerthus'' (Gospel United Production) * 2000: Cubanismo / ''Mardi Gras Mambo'' (Rykodisc) * 2002: Doc Houlind Ragtime Band meets John Boutte / ''Live At FEMO'' (Music Mecca) * 2008: Paul Sanchez / ''Exit to Mystery Street'' (Threadhead) * 2009: Glen David Andrews / ''Walking Through Heaven's Gate'' (Threadhead) * 2009: John Scofield / ''Piety Street'' (Universal Classics) * 2009: Tom McDermott / ''New Orleans Duets'' (Rabadash) * 2009: Doug Cox & Salil Bhatt / ''Slide To Freedom 2'' (

NorthernBlues Music NorthernBlues Music is a Canadian independent record label, which specializes in blues music. The label was established in 2001, and a number of its artists and albums have since been nominated for and won Blues Music Awards. President Fred Litwi ...

) * 2010:

Galactic Galactic is an American jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

/ ''YA-KA-MAY'' * 2016: John was the charity singer in the movie ''When the Bough Breaks'' * 2017: Todd Rundgren / '' Beginning(Of the End)'' / (Cleopatra Records)

References

External links

John Boutte, New Orleans Jazz Vocalist
(Official site) * Biography on Allmusic
John Boutté
John Boutté MusiCodex Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Boutte, John 20th-century African-American male singers American blues singers American jazz singers 21st-century African-American male singers American rhythm and blues singers Louisiana Creole people Jazz musicians from New Orleans Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Living people 1958 births Singers from Louisiana American male jazz musicians