Mighty Vertebrate

Anna Butterss is caught between two worlds-or three, or four. The dream of a life in jazz lured them from Australia to the U.S., but they soon became one of the most in-demand bassists in a raft of other genres, working with indie darlings Andrew Bird and Jenny Lewis, stalwart singer-songwriters Jason Isbell and Aimee Mann, and rock star Phoebe Bridgers. (A touring gig with the latter earned them a spot on Bridger’s acclaimed Punisher and Boygenius’ Grammy-winning The Record.) But even as their profile rises elsewhere, Butterss has stayed adamantly rooted in Los Angeles’ jazz community. Moonlighting on cramped stages and in small back rooms, they’ve helped to foment a small-scale revolution documented on albums like Jeff Parker’s modern classic Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy and SML’s Small Medium Large. On top of all this, Butterss now has to look after a solo career.

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