For ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’
Two gig reviews
"Butterworth's suite spans forms both simple and complex, starkly beautiful melodies and simple rhythms juxtaposed against intricate contours and free-wheeling improvisations... Circling piano figures, tumbling cadenzas, and searching alto lines correspond to the nightingale's ever- more desperate search in the service of love..The music plays into the hearts of the audience, just as the nightingale's last song touches the moon, seduces the rose and travels far.. When words finish music begins; said poet Heinrich Heine, and music has the final say; Pipe's alto lines, underpinned by a steady rhythmic pulse, sing of bitter-sweet melancholy..The suite concludes with Butterworth’s piano notes falling as softly as the petals of a rose, cymbals sighing as faintly as the last, dying breath of a nightingale....Applause was stifled during the performance for fear of breaking the spell that the trio and narrator cast, but into the silence that enveloped the final note burst applause and cheers as the audience offered a standing ovation"
Ian Patterson All About Jazz
"Butterworth proved himself to be a musician of flair, intelligence and a huge technical facility... The music was distinguished by strong melodies and sophisticated rhythmic ideas...This was immersive music with the more formal written passages melding unobtrusively and organically with the improvised moments. The quartet’s blending of classical discipline and rigour with the improvisatory freedom of jazz was highly effective with Butterworth’s keyboards at the heart of the music, whether as the featured soloist or adopting a more supportive role as the harmonic and rhythmic linchpin. This is a musician who has thus far been under recorded, his is a musical voice that deserves to be more widely heard"
Ian Mann
CD review for ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’ - Will Butterworth Quartet
‘..greater emphasis on Butterworth as a composer and on the whole he succeeds brilliantly. Nevertheless there’s still room for the individual musicians to express themselves,and the standard of the playing, from a team that Butterworth trusts implicitly, is excellent throughout’
‘Butterworth has totally captured the essence of Wilde's fantasy. The thrill, the love, the hope, the sadness are all beautifully depicted by the four musicians.
The piano, ever present, expressing the emotion of the peace whilst Pipe's alto soars and sings as surely did the nightingale. Bass and drums add to the depth bringing colour to the rose - Recommended listening’
‘Will Butterworth has produced this charming suite for his quartet. The result is a work of great delicacy and tenderness – Butterworth's classical training is very much in evidence, although he knows how to swing out a tune where appropriate too’
For ‘Will Butterworth Trio Live’
‘Butterworth elegantly shifts between intense Jarrett-like note flurries and a bluesy swing evolved from the main theme. But he also knows how to play a ballad: the standard ‘I Fall in Love Too Easily’ has all the child-like economy, poise and affective charm of a lullaby sung by Chet Baker and is another highlight of a well-balanced set. The Danish, London-based acoustic bassist Henrik Jensen and again impressive young drummer Pete Ibbetson – who turns it on soloing on Butterworth's tango-ish themed ‘The Syndicate’ – complements the piano-leader through this engaging piano trio session.
‘A stimulating three way discussion for piano, bass and drums, an encapsulation of all that's good about this exceptional trio. This live album by the Will Butterworth Trio is essential listening for all fans of contemporary piano jazz’
Modern without being outré, Melodic without being boring, a composer in his own right but not above putting his own stamp on standards such as I Fall in Love Too Easily and Old Folks. One of his originals. The Syndicate, is a blast featuring Ibbetson - the Syndicate's 'Hit Man". On bass, Jensen is on the money - sympathetic contributing both in a supportive role and up front… A gem..’
For ‘Hereafter’ - Will Butterworth Trio
for ‘Lights around the Shore’ With Hadley Fraser
For ‘The Process’ by Aurelius trio
“I think it sounds fantastic. All 3 are playing beautifully! Great sounds, compositions, and beautiful use of space. Very happy to have heard it”..... Larry Grenadier
For ‘The Rite of Spring part 1’ with Dylan Howe
There’s a worrying dearth of memorable new tunes in jazz, which is all the more reason to welcome this audacious example of cross pollination. Dylan Howe is a cultured drummer who enjoys leaping into the unknown. Taking on Stravinsky is as daunting a feat as anyone could imagine yet his collaboration with the pianist Will Butterworth turns out to be a rewarding exercise in reducing complex ideas to the basics. Butterworth resists the temptation to overplay and the result is a series of taut. ostinato based sketches drawing on the folk motif’s that originally inspired the composer. Howe himself listens intently and never gets in his partners way. The Observer
'Fluently virtuosic explorations, consistently absorbing, occasionally downright mesmerising.' Chris Parker - The Vortex
'Superlative drummer/pianist duo reinterpreting Stravinsky's finest movements via freewheeling jazz.' Time Out
'Thrilling...packed with big gestures and catchy hooks. It's fresh and -immediate and engaged the full house...digs out Igor's Slavic jazz soul without losing the work's essence.' John L Walters - The Guardian
‘ (WB and DH) simply two of the most thrilling musicians you can see in London, or anywhere. Mining the faultline where Stravinsky's revolutionary classical bred chi met jazz explosion and rock insurrect, this Duo are HOT! Personally it was a salutory lesson for me in what music can do.' Gavin Martin - The Mirror / Family of Rock
The 32 year old pianist Edinburgh-born pianist Will Butterworth made a quiet splash with his ambitious yet very impressive solo piano debut in 2007. Destined for a career as a classical cellist. Butterworth improvised on the piano at a young age allowing him a personal expression he hadn't been able to find in his classical studies. For this second CD he joins the competently versatile drummer Dylan Howe, who has a similar sense or adventure as Butterworth. Howe can switch from swinging his arse off Blue Note style one minute to a sombre reading of David Bowie's 1970's electronic phase next. Together they turn to the classical canon with their reimagining of Stravinsky's revolutionary early twentieth century ballet The Rite Of Spring ((this is Part 1: Part 2 is on it's way later in the year). Thankfully, as is the case with Howe's Bowie project, there's no attempt to reframe the work in a more traditional setting. Instead the pianist introduces the works mayor folk based motifs and deconstructs them for piano improv, mainly with a propulsive left hand ostinati underlying right hand with classical music's dynamics that sometimes recalls Ethan Iverson of Keith Jarrett. As each piece segues into the next Howe lends nicely understated support, intervening with percussive counterpoint and adding layers of polyrhythm. It's a stoical, monochromatic set that keeps it's healthy distance from the original. Next to emphasizing it's motifs, dissonances and primitive, ritualistic sense of rhythm, some subtle connections with jazz harmony and rhythm are also explored. It's a pretty absorbing reading and one that marks Butterworth as one of the more original young prospects of today's scene. Jazzwise Selwyn Harris.