Austin Jazz Hero
There is an old insulting adage proposing that “those who cannot do, teach.” Although the thought behind such a statement has been continually disproven, it’s particularly evident that the quote’s creator is unfamiliar with Austin’s 2024 Jazz Hero Andre Hayward. Indeed, Hayward’s impressive career as a musician is what has enabled him to become such an excellent educator in major institutional settings as well as modest community schools and one-to-one settings. He can, he does, and he teaches.
Some have said that the trombone is the instrument closest in sound to the human voice. Humanity and his church roots are prominent in both Hayward’s warm, smooth tone and his gentle demeanor, the combination of which have garnered him the nickname “Big Butter.”
Having grown up in Houston, Hayward moved to Dallas where he had his first big break, working with Roy Hargrove. It was quickly followed by stints with Slide Hampton (also Hayward’s teacher), Betty Carter, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the SFJazz Collective, to name a few. During that period, Hayward lived primarily in Boston. He moved to Houston, and in 2013 to Austin. Once here, his presence was quickly felt.
He has frequently performed with such of the city’s most prominent jazz musicians as Elias Haslanger, Ephraim Owens, Red Young and Mike Sailors, but his most significant contribution might be said to come from teaching. He started with the New School of Music, where he has also served on the institution’s Board of Directors and as its Vice-President of Resource Development. He taught jazz trombone at The University of Texas’ Butler School of Music. Most recently, he’s been professor and Director of Jazz Studies at Huston-Tillotson University, one of America’s oldest HBCUs.
Hayward also spreads his knowledge through less formal settings, giving lessons, for instance, at the Eastside Music School and clinics with Carter’s Jazz Clinics and the Austin Jazz Workshop. Known for his down-to-earth attitude and openness to assisting musicians of all skill levels, Big Butter has guided countless young artists. As singer/pianist Chloe Youtsey described him to the Austin Chronicle, Hayward is “one of those powerful presences . . . By virtue of getting to play next to him, you’re learning personability within the music.” And therein lies Jazz Hero Andre Hayward’s most musically heroic act: His devotion to directing future generations to find their own voices, in the process bettering our community.
— Rob Shepherd
writer, PostGenre
