John Boutte - Good Neighbor

Good
Neighbor
I first heard blues / R&B / Jazz musician John Boutte, while listening to my local blues cable TV station. They really play some great blues. I don't know if any of you have access to blues music via your cable TV, but you might want to check to see if your cable provider has a blues station.


His MySpace page has a good selection of songs from his recent album Good Neighbor. I really like the funny and infectious little diddy titled "Good Neighbor." It is song number four on his MySpace page. Check it out, I'm sure you will like it.

I really like his voice and the fact that he grew up in Louisiana makes it easy for me to understand where he is coming from. He played trumpet in the marching band and marched in parades during the Mardi Gras. According to the bio on his web site;

After high school, John studied at Xavier University, a black Catholic institution known in New Orleans and indeed the entire Deep South. After graduating John was commissioned as officer in the U. S. Army, and provided with the opportunity to direct and sing in the Army gospel choirs in Virginia, Texas and, eventually, Korea. It was in Korea, ironically, when singing gospel and deep, deep blues after hours in restaurants he'd only accidentally entered, that he began to know himself as an American, an artist and a person. Not long after his return to the States, John was invited to tour almost the entirety of Europe with his sister Lillian. Europe was a set of lessons in languages and cultures and customs, which gave John a chance to meditate on the very idea of a life led as a jazz singer.

In the below video he sings the Annie Lennox classic "Why" with the New Orleans Social Club. It is from the PBS concert series Austin City Limits which was original broadcast back on October 14, 2006.

John Boutte Sings "Why"



Paul Sanchez and John Boutte





Reference pages;
John Boutte.com
John Boutte @MySpace
John Boutte @Amazon.com