Customer Rating: 
Summary: Simply Amazing
Comment: I saw Mr. Butler a year and a half ago, opening for B.B. King here in Phoenix, at the Dodge Theatre. Seeing him live blew me away. I was simply astonished at the energy of his music, and his personality - which really comes through when he plays. This selection, the newest release is no exception. This is awesome! I enjoyed the raw, live presence of this album. I highly reccomend this one. Not to me be missed. Thank you Mr. Butler.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very rough; mismatched sound quality
Comment: I bought this CD after hearing Henry Butler interviewed on NPR. Sadly, the CD has a very slap-dash, thrown-together quality. Individual songs are rough, with glaring mistakes. Recording dates vary over decades; several songs are covers of Oldies (Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay) when I was looking for his style of Blues. The whole CD seems to be put together as an after thought. I was disappointed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This blows me away.
Comment: I'm a commercial pianist, and this guy blows me away....incredible command of the instrument, great power and energy. It's that blend of blues and New Orleans piano, along with great pianistic (and very musical) skills that's so appealing. My single-criteria is whether I want to listen to a new CD more than once when I get it, and this one hasn't been out of my office CD player for 2 weeks.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Eccentric and Exciting
Comment: PiaNOLA Live admirably captures the strange, hybridized genius of Butler's style. That style is not exactly soothing. It is, however, impressive. The music journeys to unimaginable places, and it does so in a mercurial, sometimes shocking fashion. A good choice for the more adventurous listener.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mr Butler's extraordinary piano blues
Comment: The are few musicians that I would call astonishing. New Orleans pianist Henry Butler qualifies to my ears. I remember the first recording of his that I listened to, the marvelous "For All Seasons" on Atlantic. Mostly backed by a trio that included David Holland on bass and Herman Jackson on drums (Steve Turre plays trombone on one track), the album generally is a strong hard bop piano set, but the highpoint is his solo rendition of W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," on which his musical explorations bring a truly fresh take on this classic song. After this disc, his recordings have become less jazz-oriented and more blues-r'n'b focused.
His newest recording is "PianoNOLA" on Basin Street Records. Co-produced by George Winston, who produced Butler's "Orleans Inspiration", this disc is a collection of live solo performances that include several instrumentals as well his renditions of several blues and R&B classics. The strength of this recording is his piano playing especially on the marvelous renditions of `Basin Street Blues,', his own tour de force `Orleans Inspiration,' and the late Alvin Batiste's "North American Idiosyncrasies.' As a vocalist, Butler sometimes come off as a bit melodramatic to these ears (explaining the four stars as opposed to four and half or five), but even on such a well-known number as Professor Longhair's `Tipitina,' he radically reworks it in his stunning original solo and the piano and a wordless vocal part lifts up his rendition of the Ernie K-Doe classic, `Mother-in-Law.' While the overwrought vocal on `Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,' is perhaps the low point, the rollicking `Let It Roll,' (originally on the marvelous "VU-DU-Menz" album with Corey Harris) picks things up. If this reviewer finds this uneven, there is no question that there are many inspired moments throughout this disc. Maybe his wonderful "Orleans Inspiration," will be made readily available again.
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