LaVerne Butler is an American jazz singer. Butler was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, the daughter of saxophonist Scott Butler, and was exposed to jazz and rhythm and blues music. She attended the University of New Orleans. She worked in local clubs as a singer, including with New Orleans jazz veterans Ellis Marsalis and

Alvin Batiste Alvin Batiste (November 7, 1932 – May 6, 2007) was an American avant-garde jazz clarinetist born, who was in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He taught at his own jazz institute at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hi ...

. She moved to New York City and worked as an English teacher while singing in clubs. She studied with another jazz veteran, singer

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and rep ...

. In the 1990s she recorded two albums for

Chesky Records Chesky Records is a record company and label founded in 1978 by brothers David and Norman Chesky. The company produces high-definition recordings of music in a variety of genres, including jazz, classical, pop, R&B, folk and world/ethnic. Che ...

Critical reception

She released two albums on Chesky Records to critical approval from 1992–1994.''CD Review Digest'': Jazz, popular, etc, Volume 7, Issue 4, Page 99, 1994, "Laverne Butler glides easily on the contours of the songs, but there's always a gap between the musical and literary meaning of the song and her delivery. "

Discography

* ''No Looking Back'' ( Chesky, 1992) * ''Day Dreamin' '' (Chesky, 1994) * ''Blues in the City'' (

Maxjazz Maxjazz (corporately styled MAXJAZZ) was an American jazz record label founded in 1998 by investment banker Richard McDonnell. Maxjazz recordings are generally regarded as a "straight-ahead" acoustic style of jazz. It was based in St. Louis, Miss ...

, 1999) * ''A Foolish Thing to Do'' (Maxjazz, 2001) * ''Love Lost and Found Again'' (

HighNote HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997. Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Highn ...

, 2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, LaVerne Living people American women jazz singers American jazz singers Chesky Records artists HighNote Records artists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women