Billy Butterfield | |
|---|---|
 Billy Butterfield in the Artie Shaw band, 1940 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Charles William Butterfield |
| Born | (1917-01-14)January 14, 1917 Middletown, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 18, 1988(1988-03-18) (aged 71) North Palm Beach, Florida |
| Genres | Jazz,swing,big band |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Trumpet,flugelhorn,cornet |
Charles William Butterfield (January 14, 1917 – March 18, 1988)[1] was an American jazzbandleader,trumpeter,flugelhornist, andcornetist.
Charles William Butterfield[2] was born inMiddletown, Ohio and attended high school in Wyoming.[3] Although he studied medicine atTransylvania College, he preferred playing in bands,[4] and he studied cornet with Frank Simon.[1] He discontinued his studies after finding success as a trumpeter.[1]
Early in his career, Butterfield played in the band ofAustin Wylie.[5] He gained attention working withBob Crosby (1937–1940), and later performed withArtie Shaw,Les Brown, andBenny Goodman.[1]
While with Bob Crosby, he initially played third trumpet behindCharlie Spivak andYank Lawson. When those two left Crosby to joinTommy Dorsey's band in 1938, Butterfield was given the chance to solo on a song written by Crosby bassistBob Haggart, initially titled "I'm Free."[1] When lyrics were added, it became the well-known standard "What's New?".[1]
On October 7, 1940, during his brief stay with Artie Shaw's orchestra, Butterfield performed what has been described[by whom?] as a "legendary trumpet solo" on the hit song "Star Dust". He was also a featured soloist in the small group from Shaw's band, theGramercy Five. Between 1943 and 1947, while serving in the U.S. armed forces, Butterfield led his own orchestra. On September 20, 1944,Capitol recorded thejazz standard "Moonlight In Vermont", which featured a vocal byMargaret Whiting and trumpet solos (both open and muted) by Butterfield. The liner notes from the CDCapitol from the Vaults, Volume 2, "Vine Street Divas" indicate that, although Billy Butterfield & His Orchestra were credited with the song, it was really the Les Brown band recording under the name of Billy Butterfield, because Brown was under contract to another label.
Butterfield recorded two albums with arranger-conductorRay Conniff,Conniff Meets Butterfield,[6] (1959) andJust Kiddin' Around (1962). Later in the 1960s he recorded two albums with his own orchestra forColumbia Records.
The trumpeter was a member of the World's Greatest Jazz Band, led by former Crosby bandmates Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart,[5] from the late 1960s until his death in 1988. He freelanced as a guest star with bands all over the world, and performed at many jazz festivals including the Manassas Jazz Festival and Dick Gibson's Bash in Colorado.
Butterfield is seen in the filmSecond Chorus (1940) as a member of an orchestra led byArtie Shaw.[3]
Butterfield was married to singer Dotty Dare Smith.[7]
Butterfield died on March 18, 1988, in North Palm Beach, Florida. He was 71.[4]
WithBuck Clayton
Billy Butterfield.
Billy Butterfield.
Billy Butterfield.
