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Friday, March 29, 2024

Jonathan Butler ready to inspire

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Singer, guitarist and songwriter Jonathan Butler has charmed, inspired and uplifted audiences worldwide for three decades.

He is still a major force in R&B, soul, jazz and gospel music, and will be making a visit to the Indianapolis area this month.

Butler is currently a co-star on the coast to coast Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour, which includes Koz, a popular smooth jazz saxophonist, singer Oleta Adams and keyboardist Keiko Matsui.

Butler will perform when the tour arrives at the The Palladium in Carmel this month.

As Butler participates in the Koz tour, he is also promoting his latest album, ā€œMerry Christmas to You.ā€

Butler wrote, produced and played most of the instruments on ā€œMerry Christmas to You,ā€ and channels his pristine, spiritually-impassioned vocal style and acoustic guitar into eight holiday classics and two new songs.

ā€œItā€™s a very proud moment for me to finally have a Christmas record, which has been a long time coming,ā€ Butler said. ā€œI hope fans feel blessed and uplifted when they play it at home or in their car or wherever they may be. I truly thank God for giving me the strength and the opportunity to make this album.ā€

With intentionally limited production, the project has an intimate and warm vibe on Christmas standards, the vintage rarity ā€œSweet Little Jesus Boyā€ and Butlerā€™s originals, ā€œHappy Holidaysā€ and the title track, a retro-flavored R&B/adult contemporary ballad.

Special guests include the high-profile horn men Dave Koz, Rick Braun and Paul ā€œShiltsā€ Weimer, as well as Butlerā€™s daughter, vocalist Jodie Butler, and bassist Dan Lutz.

Butler, born the youngest of 17 children in South Africa, grew up under the countryā€™s rigid apartheid system.

His love of music rescued him from drugs and extreme poverty, and he became South Africaā€™s first Black artist played on white radio stations when he released his first album at age 13.

After performing with the popular jazz/rock group Pacific Express in the 1970s, Butler moved to the United Kingdom, where he became an international success, attracting attention in the United States in the late 1980s with songs such as ā€œLies,ā€ ā€œIf Youā€™re Ready Come Go With Meā€ and ā€œSara Sara.ā€

Butler has maintained a loyal following in South Africa, the United States and Europe.

In 2006, Butler was a featured vocalist on the album ā€œGospel Goes Classical,ā€ which rose to No.Ā 2 on the Billboard Gospel chart, and No.Ā 3 on the Classical Crossover chart. He was also nominated for a Grammy Award for his single ā€œGoing Home.ā€

Also in 2008, Butler guest-starred on George Dukeā€™s album ā€œDukey Treats,ā€ alongside the late Teena Marie on the track ā€œSudan,ā€ addressing the disasters of Darfur.

Remembering his early struggles with poverty and addiction, he formed the Jonathan Butler Foundation in South Africa to fund and support music education programs that give children the purpose needed to overcome a life of drugs and poverty.

Butler said he will soon form a U. S. affiliate of the foundation to support music and arts programs for children ages 4 to 17.

ā€œThe foundation is about building new legacies and Iā€™ve wanted to help the children in my native land fulfill their dreams. These are free-born children and it is about their legacies and saving them from drugs and poverty.ā€

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