Butterfield, Don

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Don Butterfield

Musician, tubist

During the 1950s and 1960s Don Butterfield helped expand the role of the tuba in jazz. Although the tuba had played a subsidiary role in early jazz, Butterfield helped bring the instrument into the modern era, performing on landmark albums with a who's-who list of jazz greats. Tuba News wrote that "Don practically introduced the Tuba to the world of Jazz, working with, among others, Louis Armstrong, Charles Mingus, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Hampton, Buddy Rich, and Doc Severinsen." During the 1970s and 1980s, Butterfield became a crossover artist, working in a variety of fields and genres. He also performed on a number of soundtracks, including the Godfather II and Bullets Over Broadway. Music professor David Demsey told the Washington Post that Butterfield "brought back the tuba and took the oompa out and added melodic tone."

Besides performing, Butterfield worked as a teacher, helping to train a new generation of tuba players. "Don Butterfield has been one of New York's leading studio musicians for the past 57 years," noted Tuba News. "In this capacity, he has significantly increased the awareness of the capabilities of the tuba to perform in all areas, types and styles of music."

Don Keithley Butterfield was born on April 1, 1923, in Centralia, Washington. His father was a lumberjack, and Butterfield's family anticipated that he would also join the trade. He joined the high school band, however, and quickly became interested in music. "I wanted to play the trumpet. But band directors never have tuba players," Butterfield told Jim Beckerman in New Jersey's Record. "So he looked at me and said, ‘We just gave our last trumpet out 15 minutes ago. But I've got the instrument for you.’" Soon Butterfield became attached to his new instrument. "He just loved the tuba when he got it, that was his instrument," his wife, Alice Butterfield, told N. J. Clifton of the Associated Press. "He just fell in love with it."

Butterfield joined the military service following the outbreak of World War II and served in the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific. After his tour of duty, Butterfield returned home, where he enrolled in community college to study music. Before finishing the program, however, he quit and hitchhiked to New York City. There he auditioned and was accepted at the Juilliard School of Music, where he simultaneously studied under William Bell and worked at various clubs in the city. At the age of 20, Butterfield recorded under the direction of conductor Arturo Toscanini and would later remember the director's method of holding each performer to the highest standard. "If you made a mistake for Toscanini, he wasn't mad at you for making a mistake. It was more like, ‘How could you do that to Beethoven?’" Butterfield chose to leave Juilliard during his senior year to pursue a career in music.

In 1955 Butterfield recorded a fun piece of music titled "Tubby the Tuba" that helped to raise the beleaguered instrument's status. "The tuba is the ugly ducking of the orchestra," wrote Beckerman. "Or was—until a 1955 novelty piece called ‘Tubby the Tuba’ made a swan of it." Butterfield would continue to play "Tubby the Tuba" for over 40 years and it proved especially popular with children.

Butterfield embarked on an artistically rich period of recording with key jazz players in the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1950s, trumpeter Clark Terry asked Butterfield to record what would become Top and Bottom Brass. "This award-winning recording was one of the first jazz albums to prominently feature a tuba in the front line of a jazz ensemble playing extended improvised solos," noted James Shearer of the International Tuba Euphonium Association. He added, "Butterfield's playing on Top and Bottom Brass opened the door for today's successful jazz tubists and still serves as a model for one solid approach to low brass jazz improvisation." In 1958 Butterfield performed at the Newport Jazz Festival with his own band.

Butterfield's work with bassist-leader Charles Mingus would prove to be some of the most challenging of his musical career. During the early-to-mid-1960s, he appeared on Black Saint and the Sinner Lady and Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus. Mingus expected a great deal from his band, and his complex compositional style drove Butterfield to work even at home, practicing parts that seemed technically impossible until he found a solution. Butterfield also worked with trumpeter Donald Byrd and guitarists Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. "He was known for his ability to get melodious jazz sounds out of a musical instrument that had often been viewed as ungainly," wrote the Columbian.

During the 1960s and 1970s Butterfield branched out as a performer and as an educator. Over the expanse of his career, he held teaching positions at Trenton State University, Cean College, New York University, Columbia Teachers College, Montclair State University, and the Mannes School of Music. He served as a member of both the American Symphony and the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. Butterfield's work also encompassed movie soundtracks, including a memorable performance in the Godfather II.

Butterfield was known for a sense of humor that extended to his choice of instrument. "We tuba players have spent our whole lifetime with this problem," he told Beckerman. "We're like an interstate truck driver. We're not going to be racing in the Indianapolis 500. At the same time, we understand that we have a certain function in the orchestra." Butterfield also shared his gift with others, serving as the director of the Montclair State University band from 1976 to 1993. "His enthusiasm was contagious," stepson Brian Nalepka told Jay Levin in the Record, "and he gave me such a love and appreciation for the instrument."

Butterfield continued to perform during the 1980s and 1990s, making appearances at the Fair Lawn Summer Festival in New Jersey and touring with Frank Sinatra during the late 1980s. Butterfield suffered a stroke in July of 2005 that left him unable to perform, and he died of complications on November 27, 2006. In 2006 he received the International Tuba Euphonium Association's Lifetime Citation Award. Remembering Butterfield, jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli told Levin, "You've got to be a violinist to play the tuba the way he did it. He played it very beautifully. He was very delicate."

For the Record …

Born on April 1, 1923, in Centralia, Washington, and died on November 27, 2006.

Attended Juilliard School of Music, 1940s; recorded "Tubby the Tuba," 1955; recorded Top and Bottom Brass with Clark Terry, 1959; recorded Black Saint and the Sinner Lady and Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus with Charles Mingus, 1963; performed on numerous soundtracks, including the The Godfather II, throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Awards: International Tuba Euphonium Association, Lifetime Citation Award, 2006.