Since its inception in 1973, the jazz program at William Paterson University has only seen three individuals take on the all-encompassing role of Jazz Studies Coordinator: picture an academic advisor, but enhanced with the expectation of knowing the personal schedules, interests, and musical inspirations and aspirations of 90 students. Recently, I sat down with the newest program coordinator, Dr. Mitch Butler.
So, you’ve been here for a month now. How are you hanging in there?
I’m hanging in pretty well. That first week was a bit of a challenge, but thankfully, I had the help from the best people in the world I could get, and that is Dr. David Demsey [former program coordinator] and Professor Bill Charlap [current program director]. They were both gracious with their time and information, and really made me feel at home, as though I was on the right path at all times. Now I’m just trying to get to know people, and it’s starting to flow.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Well, these days my spare time includes the things that maybe weren’t my spare time before, which is practicing and playing the trombone. I’ve been watching a couple of older movies, which I don’t have to think about because I already know what’s going to happen, so I kind of like that [laughs]. I’ve been on a Schwarzenegger kick because those movies are all free on YouTube right now. I like to play golf, but I didn’t bring my club. The most accurate part of the answer is that there’s not much spare time. I’ve started getting back to learning tunes again and hanging out with my daughter a little bit, as she’s a freshman here. Those are the main things.
Tell me about your early life in Raleigh, North Carolina– when did you know you’d want a career in music?
It wasn’t in Raleigh, that’s for sure. In Raleigh, I did the typical thing; middle school band, high school band, All-District a couple of times. There was some raw talent there early on, but I didn’t know I was gonna do music. When I went to college at East Carolina University, that’s where I met my mentors. They showed me that I could do something in music if I put my mind to it, and that’s when I knew I really liked doing this. It also couldn’t have happened without any of my family: my uncles, who were all musicians in the Washington and Baltimore area; my grandmother, who played some piano; and my father, who encouraged me to be the best I could be. All of those people, either through music or by taking me to things that I would have never seen, were all instrumental in getting me to the point where music would be part of my life.
I read somewhere that you were a music education major at first, then switched to performance. Since you’re quite an experienced educator at this point, what made you realize you wanted to go into education, but maybe not in the traditional way?
When I switched from education to performance, I actually wanted to perform. When you’re younger, you think you know what you mean by anything that you say or do. But the full perspective is not always clear. I wanted to learn what was in the practice; not for a test, but for practical use. I knew theory and sightsinging was something I wanted to use, so performance was the only way. At that time, we didn’t have a jazz undergrad major, so the closest thing I could do was just be a performance major and take jazz ensembles. Then, when I stayed there for grad school, I got a teaching assistantship. I was assigned jazz history, the second big band — the “B band”, as we used to call it — and a couple of lessons. Having that first experience of actually being in front of people, and having to organize internally and then disseminate externally in an organized fashion, is when I knew. Not for everybody, but to me, education and performance go hand in hand. What’s the point of talking about what somebody needs to do if I can’t do it myself?
Since you held full-time positions like the one you have now with only your master’s degree, what motivated you to get your doctorate?
There were not a lot of terminal degree opportunities until the mid 2000s, so I went back in 2006 when I was 31 to get my doctorate, and the University of Texas was the only place that I felt like I was going to get what I was going for. I wanted to study with Ronald Westray, who used to be the lead trombonist at Lincoln Center for its first 12 years. If I got a doctorate along the way, so be it [laughs]. I wanted to be a better trombone player. That was it, that was the bottom line. That’s what I recommend for all young people. When they go to grad school, go to where it is that has what you want. Undergrad, you can kind of do the, you know, “whoever gives me the most money” thing, sure. But with grad school, you should go to the program with the person that you want to study with. Don’t mess around at another place. Ron Westray changed so much about my playing that I had to relearn my instrument. In your 30s, that’s a tough pill to swallow, but it changed my life.
Do you have a music-related hot take?
I think just some general philosophy stuff is like, now more than ever, it’s a great time to be a young, aspiring musician because there are so many technological advances. I’m not the oldest person in the world, not the most experienced person in the world, but I do remember things like the Marantz. It’s a cassette player, and it could play everything in half time. So, if I was transcribing a trombone solo, then it becomes a tuba solo. If you transcribe an alto, it’s now a bari. You’ve got to worry about none of that today! So to me, there’s never been a better time to do it. Also, my main thing is, organize your thoughts and your time so that when you sit down every day to perfect your craft, you learn to block out the noise and concentrate. Map out the what, the how, and the when. You start doing that, all of the information you have access to is all for the taking. Not a hot take really, but no excuses. If you can’t play over a Bb blues after spending three months with it, you just ain’t trying.
When you were in college, did you have any bad habits that you would advise students to avoid?
At different parts of my young adulthood, I knew there was a level I wasn’t getting to and didn’t quite know how to get there. When I went back to school, that’s all I cared about. So before that, even during that, sometimes I was a little too hard on myself. For instance, there were those sort of “expressions” off the horn where I showed displeasure with myself. It was unattractive, and I had some really good advice from people who’d say, “Nobody wants to hear that.” This came from people that I liked, and admittedly, from people I didn’t like. And if they’re both saying the same thing, it must be true. So correct those things.
What are some of your all-time favorite artists or genres?
When I was growing up, on Saturdays my mom and dad used to turn on Soul Train. I was five or six, and I’d be coming in trying to do all the dances that they were doing down the Soul Train line. So all the music from that era, the 70s and early 80s, I came up with. Then as I became a teenager, I got into hip hop. Everybody my age was into that. In that particular period, ‘89 to ’93, there were a lot of those artists telling you to go pick up a book. I remember KRS-One’s “You Must Learn” and I learned about all these African-American historical figures that I’d never heard of before, just through the music that I was listening to. So that’s a part of my fabric. Also, my grandma took me to church every single Sunday. At the time, I didn’t know how influential that music was. It was African-American church, so we sang the four-part hymns but with a little pep.
And then when I got to college, I became what my nephew would call a jazz head. You know, Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Slide Hampton, Curtis Fuller, Monk, Duke, Basie. I love the big band stuff; Benny Goodman and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis later on. I also really enjoyed the work of Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson, both in ’68, but also in ’72 when they were doing the more contemporary thing. Then I started going back and listening to Louis Armstrong, and once you do that, you realize there’s nothing new under the sun, man. He was doing a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff.
What are some of your most memorable playing experiences?
Playing with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra was instrumental for me. I joined the band as a sub for Ron Westray in 2008, and after that, I became one of the regular trombonists even when he was on the gig. Those early years for me were a blast. I mean, the way we approached playing big band music, the level of players that were in that band…yeah, those were good times. We even ended up winning the big band album Grammy in 2011. That experience is when I started expanding my own writing for big band. Now, I have an album that will be coming out, I hope, in the next few months. It’s dedicated to my sister, who we lost last November. It’s going to be entitled Con Alma, since her name was Alma. I wrote arrangements for it, three horns, four horn stuff. I’m looking forward to that release.
Lastly, do you have any general advice you would like to share?
I’ve been talking with students about this: you have to learn to be comfortable in your own skin. Whether standing up and taking a solo or standing up at a faculty meeting and giving a report, you must be who you are. People will either accept you or reject you, but if you put your work in, the people who find you acceptable will find you, and you’ll end up in the place where you’re supposed to be. It’s much easier to become more comfortable with who you are the more time you put into your craft. Also, you still have to live your life and roll with the punches, be determined, go get what it is that you want, and don’t let anybody tell you that schooling is a waste of time, because it doesn’t have to be. Now, if you go to school and never practice or never do the work, then yeah, it’s a waste of time. But if you’re being guided by people, like the people that are here who are the best in the world, well, you’ll be all right.
