Hi4Head Records

06/10/2023

hi4headrecords.com

04/10/2023

Dialogues in Two Places. A brilliant double CD of improvisations by Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston hi4headrecords.com

03/09/2023

Big thanks Douglas Kaye for finishing his Sunday Jazz Lounge show on Ship Full of Bombs - Thames Delta Independent Music Radio Station with a demo of Red Moon by Kalen. Thanks also to Mark Lancaster for engineering.

Doug eases into September with the usual mix of Jazz and Blues classics. Alfie's Theme - Sonny RollinsTime Waits - Bud PowellJuke Box Lil - Charles BrownDon't Start Crying Now - ThemThat's Life I Guess - Billie HolidayYou Got Me Dizzy -Jimmy ReedSomething On Your Mind - Karen DaltonWhatever Loa Want...

23/06/2023

Astonishing gig in South Records today Johnny Butler & Alex Oliva! Next stop Leigh Folk Festival

13/06/2023

Off we go! Johnny ButlerLeigh Folk Festival

10/06/2023

Johnny Butler & Alex Oliva are at Leigh Folk Festival on Saturday June 24th in the Fisherman’s Chapel.
The critically acclaimed The Sunbather is available on all platforms or from hi4headrecords.com

03/06/2023

Big up Johnny Butler & Alex Oliva! The Sunbather at hi4headrecords.com All platforms too!
Big thanks Leigh Folk Festival

14/05/2023

Johnny Butler at Leigh Folk Festival! 24 June 2023 in the Fisherman’s Chapel!

Another FREE show and this one's a little special... All the way from Brooklyn, out of Seattle, grammy-award winning saxophonist for his work on Beyoncé's "Love on Top", Johnny Butler will be joining us for an unique performance combining music and dance with award-winning NYC dancer & choreographer Alex Oliva.

We can't wait to welcome him to Leigh Folk Festival, secure your free ticket now, limited to just 100! ➡️ https://bit.ly/Johnny-Butler

21/03/2023

Big thanks Bruce Gallanter at Downtown Music Gallery for this fab review of The Sunbather by Johnny Butler
‘Featuring Johnny Butler on solo tenor sax with devices, performed live with no overdubs or post-editing. A couple of years ago, I met Nick who runs UK-based Hi4Head label at The Stone and he introduced me to fellow Brit Johnny Butler who plays sax. I had a cancellation for the following Sunday in our ongoing in-store series and asked Johnny if he wanted to play that night. He accepted and played a solo sax set at DMG with two dancers accompanying him. The set was a rare revelation and worked out fine, the dancers adding much to Mr. Butler’s fine sax playing. I reviewed a solo sax by Mr. Butler which I remember liking and recently got a new solo sax effort in the mail from Hi4Head. Nine of the eleven songs were written for dance pieces in 2021. The other pieces were written for two films. “Joker Family Reunion” opens with a great series of repeating sax licks which are chopped up with an echo-plex device. This sounds more like a studio effort since all of the parts are so well recorded and fit together like a well-integrated puzzle. Butler has several repeating lines all interwoven in a tight, hypnotic tapestry. On “the title track, Butler puts his sax through a dense distortion device giving it a dense, somewhat scary sound, like a monster coming up from the swamp. On each piece, Mr. Butler manilutes he sax with different devices, hence his sound is evolving throughout. He also likes to play some melodic, majestic lines which make this disc warm and friendly but not too weird but most enchanting. I played this disc in the store earlier this week (January of 2023) and several folks remarked how much they liked it. That doesn’t happen very often. Johnny Butler will be playing here in a few weeks (on Jan 31st at 7:30), so I look forward to that set immensely. Until then, you should check this disc out as it is superb. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG’

Grab a copy from Bruce!

12/01/2023

Big thanks to Sid Smith for his review of The
Sunbather by Johnny Butler in Prog Magazine. CD at hi4headrecords.com

22/12/2022

Big congrats Johnny Butler! 2022, what a year!
Latest album The Sunbather is available on all platforms!

14/12/2022

Some Dance Film Festival, California this Saturday! The video premiere for The Sunbather by Johnny Butler & Alex Oliva! Music on all platforms and Cd at hi4headrecords.com Big up JB!

08/11/2022

The Sunbather by Johnny Butler - all platforms!

JOHNNY BUTLER Commemorating the release of his astonishing new album, JOHNNY BUTLER, is pleased to reveal the official video for its title track: “The Sunbather”. WATCH THE OFFICIAL VIDEO HERE Written and directed by Johnny Butler himself, the video, like its musical counterpart, is an outlandis...

01/11/2022

Trevor Watts on Hi4Head Records

Hi4Head Trevor Watts. Hastings, UK.

18/10/2022

Big thanks Front View! Watch the video for the title track of The Sunbather by Johnny Butler here:

Commemorating the release of his astonishing new album, JOH

11/10/2022

Here are Johnny Butler & Alex Oliva at C’Mon Everybody for the launch of The Sunbather. Available at all streaming services and CD from hi4headrecords.com

21/09/2022

Johnny Butler tonight! The Sunbather!

14/09/2022

Big thanks Ross McGibbon for these superb words about The Sunbather by Johnny Butler
All platforms Sept 16!

A few words here:

Album review

13/09/2022

The Sunbather by Johnny Butler Sept 16, all platforms!

We are so excited to announce that JOHNNY BUTLER returns in 2022 with the convention-shredding new solo album: ‘The Sunbather’ (out 16th September, all streaming platforms + CD from our site). As the follow-up to 2020’s critically acclaimed ‘Thirteen Dances’, comprising 11 songs of his pi....

08/09/2022

Big thanks 1st3 for a fab review of The Sunbather by Johnny Butler

9th August 2022 Music News JOHNNY BUTLER NEW YORK JAZZ MAVERICK ANNOUNCES THIRD ALBUM: ‘THE SUNBATHER’ OUT 16 SEPTEMBER, VIA HI4HEAD RECORDS The follow-up to 2020’s critically acclaimed ‘Thirteen Dances’, the NYC saxophonist, technologist, dancer and composer returns with a radiant, radica...

05/09/2022

The Sunbather by Johnny Butler BIG MUSIC! All platforms Sept 16. CD hi4headrecords.com

02/09/2022

Brand new music from Johnny Butler The Sunbather, all platforms Sept 16!

01/09/2022

The Sunbather, Johnny Butler all platforms Sept 16!

JOHNNY BUTLER The follow-up to 2020’s critically acclaimed ‘Thirteen Dances’, the NYC saxophonist, technologist, dancer and composer returns with a radiant, radical new release. Comprising 11 songs of his pioneering brand of cosmic jazz, Butler delivers a concept album of maverick instrumental...

01/09/2022

The Sunbather by Johnny Butler is on all platforms Sept 16! Cd order from hi4headrecords.com

21/08/2022

The Sunbather by Johnny Butler All platforms Sept 16, CD preorder at hi4headrecords.com

15/08/2022

A still from the upcoming video for the title track of The Sunbather by the brilliant Johnny Butler. Written by Johnny and Alex Olivia with cinematography by Laurel Bear Costume by Allison D**e. Keep looking here for full video. The Sunbather is available on all platforms from Sept 16 and the CD can be pre ordered at hi4headrecords.com. It fuses jazz and dance In genuinely new ways . JB is a genuinely innovative talent. One of the finest players and composers on the NYC scene NOW!

10/08/2022

Johnny Butler Big thanks Rock’n’Load! Fab review of The Sunbather by Johnny Butler! https://rocknloadmag.com/news/johnny-butler-new-york-jazz-maverick-announces-third-album-the-sunbather-out-16-september/

JOHNNY BUTLER NEW YORK JAZZ MAVERICK ANNOUNCES THIRD ALBUM: ‘THE SUNBATHER’ OUT 16 SEPTEMBER, VIA HI4HEAD RECORDS Photo by Jeremy Studdard Carroll // Design by Wes Richardson // costume by Allison …

09/08/2022

Big mention of The Sunbather by Johnny Butler!

Johnny Butler the NYC saxophonist, technologist, dancer and composer returns with a radiant, radical new release via Hi4Head Records

Comprising 11 songs of his pioneering brand of cosmic jazz, Butler delivers a concept album of maverick instrumentals tied together by a cryptic central protagonist known only as ‘The Sunbather’. As Butler explains:

“The Sunbather does not soak in the sun, he lays in a bath of noise. The Sunbather is a dance, a film, a song, a person. He is me, of me, and not me at all.”

From songs that come alive in the heat of the noonday sun, to those that shiver in the shadows of its diminishing form; Butler delivers a record of extraordinary texture and blinding musicianship, with counterparts that revolve, change and respond with a mesmeric elegance.

Like its predecessor, ‘Thirteen Dances’, all of the songs on ‘The Sunbather’ were performed by Butler in single takes using just a tenor saxophone, a handful of electronic devices, breathing techniques, and body movement (with the exception of “It’s Fine” - which was performed on a Korg Prologue). All of the music was also performed live with no edits, no overdubs, no samples, no loops, and no pre-recorded materials.

Alive with a palpable sense of drama and movement, nine of the eleven songs here were initially written for a number of dance productions staged throughout 2021. “Spinning Wheel” was written for Sleepwalkers, a dance-theatre work presented at The Visionary in Mount Vision, New York with dancer-choreographers Michelle Thompson Ulerich and Caleb Patterson. “The Necklace” was composed for Warriors, which premiered at The Visionary with dancer-choreographers Gwendolyn Gussman and Xenia Mansour and lighting designer Alex Taylor. “Unatamam Seni”, “It’s Fine”, “Lost,” and “The Birdcage” were all written for HOLDTIGHT’s immersive production What Keeps You Going, which took place at The Cell Theatre in Manhattan. “The Alex Detector”, “Slow Motion”, and “Joker Family Reunion” were composed for performances in Brooklyn and Manhattan with Alex Oliva.

With cinematic qualities both fearsome and harrowing in their own ways, it may come as little surprise that the other two songs were composed for thrillers made in collaboration with the director Laurel Bear. The title track, “The Sunbather”, was originally written for a horror film of the same name, whereas “Trance Dance” was composed for the short film Intruder, which premiered at New York University’s Gallatin Arts Festival in April of last year.

With all songs written and performed by Johnny Butler, the album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Julian Picado and Francisco Gonzalez in November-December 2021.

A work of an often searing beauty and intimidating presence that demands you to bask in its aura, ‘The Sunbather’ by Johnny Butler is released on Hi4head Records on 16th September.

JOHNNY BUTLER - ‘THE SUNBATHER’ TRACKLISTING

1. Joker Family Reunion (4.15)

2. The Sunbather (6.27)

3. Spinning Wheel (3.00)

4. Slow Motion (3.54)

5. The Alex Detector (1.30)

6. Unatamam Seni (0.54)

7. The Necklace (3.11)

8. Trance Dance (5.25)

9. It’s Fine (6.50)

10. Lost (3.01)

11. The Birdcage (9.38)

Johnny Butler is a Brooklyn-based, Grammy-award winning saxophonist, recording artist, arranger, composer, dancer, and technologist. Over the years, he has performed, written, and recorded with artists including Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule) Wynton Marsalis, The Levon Helm Band, Tune-Yards, Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, Escaper and his own prog-jazz outfit Scurvy, among others.

Butler released his debut album ‘HyperViolet’ in 2017, a sublime, expansive spiritual jazz-fusion masterpiece, the album was released by the London-based Hi4Head Records and was praised by The Wire as “just about the freshest thing you'll hear all year”. In a change of direction, Butler returned with conceptual, cosmic jazz epic ‘Thirteen Dances’ a record that was hailed by The Sunday Times as “combining the subtle shifts of Steve Reich’s Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards, the inventiveness of Jon Hassell and Brian Eno’s Possible Musics and the texture of Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel… Gorgeous”. An artist who always moves far beyond the realms of expectation, Butler releases the third in this trilogy of releases, ‘The Sunbather’ in the Autumn of 2022.

* * * * *

FOR MORE INFORMATION
https://www.johnnybutler.com

Sonic PR

09/08/2022

Big thanks Broadway World Music for this brilliant review of The Sunbather by Johnny Butler https://twitter.com/bwwmusicworld/status/1556657319966031884?s=21&t=RINWyWYwMlI0N0LTd6hWtA

“. has announced a new album! https://t.co/Gk9jjY3l9C”

08/08/2022

We are very pleased to announce that The Sunbather, the stunning new album by Johnny Butler will be available on all streaming platforms from 16th September!

13/07/2022

New music coming soon from Brooklyn’s finest Johnny Butler but meanwhile here’s the critically acclaimed Thirteen Dances! https://open.spotify.com/album/7IygIw9gb4jE3QYz9WCdfd?si=izro_eGjTq-ISC9_pGESrg

Johnny Butler · Album · 2020 · 13 songs.

13/07/2022

Crossings by Veryan Weston, Hannah Marshall & Mark Sanders - ‘so much to discuss’ (Peter Eden) https://open.spotify.com/album/2UfYGa1tF86ViWpbemCfhv?si=9HQ_gKV3SquaGepWXenSBA

Veryan Weston · Album · 2020 · 9 songs.

13/07/2022

With the Flow . World Music by the master Trevor Watts & his unique Moire Music Drum Orchestra. Live! It rocks! https://hi4headtrevorwatts.bandcamp.com/album/with-the-flow

4 track album