Kendrah Butler-Waters

Butler-Waters, a Philadelphia-based pianist, violinist, composer and educator, grew up in a musical household, surrounded by jazz, Motown, classical and gospel—her faith and musicality have always been like two sides of the same coin. As a young girl and adolescent, she studied classical piano with current Lincoln University Professor of Piano Charles Pettaway at Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School, while contemporaneously studying jazz piano with Don Wilson, the former leader of the Philadelphia Clef Club’s Big Band, and Barry Harris protégé Kenny Gates at the Mt. Airy Cultural Center. The founder of that community center, the revered local alto saxophonist Tony Williams, quickly recognized Butler-Waters’ talents and recruited her to the youth quintet he’d formed, The Best Yet Quintet, an outfit that played gigs throughout the Philadelphia tri-state area. Prior to her 18th birthday, she’d already worked with a veritable hall-of-fame of jazz musicians which included Grover Washington, Jr., Mike Boone, David “Fathead” Newman, Leon Huff, Gloria Lynne, Leon Jordan, Sr., and Trudy Pitts. She used her college years at Temple University to explore interests outside of music, earning a dual degree in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Spanish, in 2008. Her music career resumed shortly thereafter, with the release of her first album, Indigo Writings, in 2009, which was highlighted by two nights of sold-out performances at the Clef Club. A few short years later, she was awarded the prestigious Kimmel Center Jazz Residency for the 2015-16 season, during which she composed original work fusing jazz and gospel and ultimately collaborated with vocalist Shamika Byrd and a 10-piece orchestra to premier that work before a sold-out audience. Along the way, Butler-Waters earned a master’s degree in elementary education from Drexel University (2013) and has taught at elementary schools in both the Norristown (Pa.) and Hatboro-Horsham (Pa.) school districts. She’s also taught at the university level, leading “The History of Jazz” at the University of Pennsylvania in Fall 2019. But for her myriad intellectual and pedagogical interests, Butler-Waters might be best recognized for the prominent role her faith plays in her musicality and for how vociferously she’s amplified the stories and profile of female jazz musicians. She’s served as music director for Philadelphia Jazz Project’s (PJP) Diva Nation project and worked with vocalist Rhenda Fearrington and PJP to develop Philadelphia’s “Women in Jazz” tour, a series of concerts in and around Philly during Women’s History Month (March), featuring female vocalists and instrumentalists. She also memorably played a solo piano tribute at the Pennsylvania premier of Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band, Carol Bash’s 2015 documentary on the prolific pianist, arranger, and composer. Equally important to Butler-Waters is her faith. “My faith in God has always had a presence in…how I express myself musically,” she explained in an October 2020 interview with PJP. “It is my belief that God is working in the midst of the challenges we face in life and is right there to guide us and push us through.” That belief is central to the message contained in her latest album, Faith Walk, which was released in Dec. 2020. Composed entirely of new, original compositions, Faith Walk stars Butler-Waters and her quartet, while featuring several notable guests, including Philly-based vocalist V. Shayne Frederick. “This [new album, Faith Walk],” she said in the same PJP interview, “will take you on a journey of pride in self-identity, encouragement, reflection on the past, and will hopefully connect you to the necessity of building a bright and promising future.” Over the last several years, Butler’s remained committed to her own promising future by presenting her compositions in a variety of new ways. In 2019, she wrote original music to accompany Levar Burton’s reading of sci-fi master (and former Temple University creative writing prof.) Samuel R. Delany’s short story “Driftglass” for Burton’s hugely popular podcast, Levar Burton Reads. And even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she found inventive ways to share her music, performing “Sweet Baby Cakes,” the first part of the original four-part suite from Faith Walk, on WHYY’s House Concert Series in November 2020.

Photo Credit: Ted Waters Photography