Biography
Throughout his career Butch Warren evoked an earlier generation of bassists who confined themselves to supportive walking lines rather than stepping forward as soloists. Although capable of contemporary phrasing, he soloed sparingly and shone most brightly when supporting fellow players. His professional start came at fourteen, working in the band led by his father Edward Warren. In his early years he performed around Washington, D.C., most prominently alongside Stuff Smith. Moving to New York in 1958, he joined Kenny Dorham at the Five Spot and remained based there for the greater part of his working life. Over the ensuing six years he stayed busy in clubs and contributed to numerous sessions, above all Blue Note dates fronted by Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, Stanley Turrentine, Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Clark, and Dorham. From 1963 to 1964 he belonged to Thelonious Monk’s quartet, after which he returned to Washington, D.C., and held a television-studio position between 1965 and 1966. Serious illness later curtailed his activity, yet he continued to play occasional gigs, among them a 1975 appearance with Richie Cole. Only in the twenty-first century did he finally lead his own recordings: the 2011 album French 5tet, captured after a weeklong French tour, and the 2012 follow-up Butch’s Blues, featuring musicians from the D.C. region. Butch Warren died of lung cancer in a Silver Spring, Maryland, hospital in October 2013 at the age of seventy-four.
Albums