SKF NOTE: Musician/bandleader Paul Butterfield was one of my musical heroes during my high school years. Starting with his East-West album, which was the Butterfield Blues Band’s second album, my high school music friends and I absorbed Butterfield’s albums through all his different bands. From his standard blues sextet to his horn bands, Butterfield’s bands were ultra cool and so very musical.

Paul Butterfield’s obituary here is from the Maryland Star Democrat newspaper. I first read it, standing in my yard, on that spring day in Oxford, MD. Butterfield’s death was sad for many reasons. I wish he had taken better care of himself. And Butterfield’s death also felt like the end of a very important part of my life.