Chris Butcher

Chris Butcher is a musician firmly established as a representative of the global music village, transcending genre and cultural predisposition, and pleasing audiences across the world. As a leader of The Heavyweights Brass Band Chris has been behind one of the brightest lights to emerge on the Canadian music scene. Combine that with his extensive experience as a sideman, work as a radio host/producer, role as an educator/community builder, Chris Butcher illustrates a promising portrait of an influential career in music. Chris moved to Toronto in his early twenties and quickly built a solid reputation as one of Canada’s top trombone players in the most diverse musical scene on the planet playing in the groups of many of the country’s most prestigious artists including Jane Bunnett, Jay Douglas, Hilario Duran, Archie Alleyne and Kevin Breit among countless others. Chris is now resident of New Orleans after coming down frequently over the years to study with Delfeayo Marsalis and soak up the roots of the music.

On special occasions Chris has played and recorded with some of the finest international artists like Quincy Jones, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, The Treme Brass Band, Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Ernest Ranglin, Giovanni Hidalgo, Broken Social Scene, Dubmatix, David Clayton-Thomas and many more . In 2015 Chris was awarded Emerging Artist of the Year at the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He also formed Street Brass, a community based ensemble that teaches and performs brass band music of the Americas. 2018 promises to be a year of continued growth as Chris splits time between studying/playing in the great city of New Orleans, touring with the California based Mad Caddies, and his many ongoing projects in Toronto.