Henry Butler is one of New Orleans' contemporary "professors" of piano from a legacy stretching back to the early twentieth century with Jelly Roll Morton. Roger Hahn in his May OffBeat article, said of Butler's improv style,"the careful listener might hear Wille "The Lion" Smith and Antonin Dvorak...discussing the influence of the blues in the compositions of Thelonious Monk" Butler has spent his career reconciling his natural musical inclination, inbred in so many generations of New Orleans progeny, with his intellectual and academic musical pursuits. Batiste also helped Butler receive a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to study with George Duke, pianist in Cannonball Adderley's band, at Michigan State University.