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Life & Arts

Luther Jett's debut album will take you places

by BEN HILL
The Daily Cougar

In 1999, Caedmon's Call percussionist and former UH student Garett Buell assembled a crack team of radical musicians to play on his first solo effort, Foreign Mission. One of them was guitarist Jett Butler, another former UH student and close friend. Two of Foreign Mission's extended cuts featured Butler's expansive guitar palette, from colorful flamenco flourishes to textures that mimic exotic stringed instruments and even animal cries. 

Foreign Mission could best be described as acid-jazz with a healthy dose of world-beat; after its release, most of the players involved went their separate ways and took on other projects. Buell continued his percussive explorations with Caedmon's Call, which eventually took him to India and Ecuador. But little was heard from Butler.

Though he released an EP titled Fragment in 2002, and his connection with Buell got him work as a touring guitarist for Bebo Norman and session work for artists such as Rachael Lampa and Tara Leigh Cobble, his own full-length debut remained evasive.

"I always wanted to do music professionally," Butler said. "Briefly put, I had to prioritize. I was married with son and a beautiful wife at the ripe age of 21 and once out of college, it was time to get a job.

"I always had to balance work, dreams and family."

Besides being an architect and musician, Butler runs an award-winning design studio in Austin that contributed images to the Graphisoft ArchiCAD 9 digital rendering program. 

Other issues complicated the albums' liftoff, such as finding a name under which to release it. Butler had been going by his first name, but then Australian rockers Jet scored two hits in 2004 and '05. Ultimately dubbing the band The Luther Jett, after his paternal grandfather, and drawing the title from a lyric in his song "Light for the Sun," Butler is now able to offer Like the Places That Will Never Be through the band's Myspace site and official Web site, www.thelutherjett.com.

Places is a deeply personal album, and its true beauty lies in its lyrics. When wrapped in their musical fabric, the words force imagery into the listeners' imagination like a cinematic collage. Particularly effective when delivered on emotionally charged cuts like "Velveteen," Butler's rich baritone often shifts from a breathless whisper to a slightly unsettling wail.

"I really don't see the difference between composing a building and composing a song," Butler said. "To me, it's kind of the same head space."

From sheer joy to excruciating catharsis, the songs all have very specific themes and stories behind their conception, but Butler leaves them open to personal interpretation.

In "Too Big To Burn" he reflects on what occasionally must be done with dreams: "Yesterday I took my aspirations and placed them by the curb in anticipation / Hauled away, they were too big to burn, too used to return / I guess I need the space here."

"Failing at the Knees," an apolitical, odd-metered blues, examines events in war from multiple perspectives: "All walls divide, so let's hide under the roof, and conceal all the proof, from the satellites / Can't find the guns, or the ones who built the lies, maybe they're too wise, they use silencers."

The Luther Jett features a talented cast of supporting musicians, including session bassist Mark Polack and jazz pianist Ed Hobizal, with guest vocals by Alli Rogers, Charlene Ava and Carolyn Polack. Garett Buell completes the lineup on drums and percussion.

"I wrote a tune, suggested a form and direction, then tried to let each person experiment within that framework," Butler said, describing the recording process. "Some songs I was very specific, others wide open."

As a musician, Butler is a master of atmospherics, and though the album is covered with his unique guitar work, it never detracts from the whole of the songs. Citing a motley group of influences like John Coltrane, Sigur Ros and Middle Eastern music, he channels all manner of sounds through his instrument, such as an accompanying melody in "King or Queen" that's identical to a flute, or intertwining controlled feedback into a supporting melody in "Failing at the Knees."

"I think of the sounds as texture," Butler said. "It's one thing to look at a wall and another thing to walk up and touch. Plus, it's just fun to do things like drop a pencil on the strings and see what sound comes out."

Places is not a normal album. There's nothing generic about it, and therein lies its magic. It's not so much an album as a piece of one man's soul, and Jett Butler gives much credit to his wife Shae for its realization.

"None of this would have happened if Shae hadn't supported my dreams and ambitions all these years," he said. "A lot of wives would have thrown in the towel when you hadn't gotten anywhere year after year. This is a lesson in faith: hers."

The Luther Jett

Like the Places That Will Never Be
Independently released
Verdict: If only there were more debut albums of such quality. 
 

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