Christopher Stephen Botti
or Chris Botti
[BOH-tee]
(born October 12, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer.
Coming to prominence in the mid-1990s, Botti established a reputation as a versatile musician, excelling in both jazz and pop music.
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Early life
Born in
Portland, Oregon and raised in
Corvallis, Oregon, he spent two years of his childhood growing up in Italy. His earliest musical influence was his mother, a classically trained
pianist and part-time piano teacher.
He plays a
Martin Committee Handcraft trumpet made in 1940, and uses a 3 silver plated mouthpiece from
Bach made in 1926, having recently retired his 1920 3C Bach mouthpiece. He counts
Miles Davis among his most significant influences.
Botti attended
Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon where he studied under Larry McVey whose renowned jazz program had come to be a regular stop for
Stan Kenton and
Mel Tormé when they were looking for new players. It was here he played alongside his friend, trombonist and future Academy Award nominated filmmaker,
Todd Field.
After leaving Mount Hood, Botti studied under David Baker and
Bill Adam at
Indiana University. Botti also studied with Fred Sautter, a
Claude Gordon student, and with trumpeter
Woody Shaw and saxophonist
George Coleman.
Career
As of June 2009, Botti has released twelve solo albums. His first few releases could safely be classified as
smooth jazz, though critic Alex Henderson argues that Botti's music was a cut above much of the genre; reviewing his 1999 album,
Slowing Down the World
, Henderson writes "it would be a major mistake to lump it in with the outright
elevator muzak that
Kenny G,
Dave Koz,
Najee, and
Richard Elliot were known for ... Botti is capable of a lot more."
[1]
Though still featuring heavy contributions from
pop music singers, Botti's more recent albums have found him exploring more traditional jazz territory, with lush orchestral arrangements earning comparisons to
Gil Evans.
[2]
Botti has also performed or recorded with artists such as
Frank Sinatra,
Andrea Bocelli,
Sting,
Dean Martin,
Yo-Yo Ma,
Jill Scott,
Steven Tyler,
Paul Buchanan,
Josh Groban,
Michael Bublé,
Jeff Lorber,
David Torn,
Roy Hargrove,
Paul Simon,
Clark Terry,
Lee Ritenour,
Burt Bacharach,
Paula Cole,
John Mayer, and
Jonatha Brooke.
Botti was also a member of
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities, a more experimental,
jazz fusion-oriented group. He composed the
score for the 1996 film
Caught
.
In 2005, Botti performed in the opening of the
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Also in 2005 he performed several songs in a guest appearance on the daytime soap opera,
The Young and the Restless
. The episode aired on December 9, and Chris played himself performing at the wedding of the characters Michael and Lauren. He performed "Emmanuel" as the wedding processional song, which can be found as an extra song on the extended version of his album
Italia
. He also played "My One and Only Love" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" from the album
To Love Again
.
In 2006,
Billy Childs,
Gil Goldstein &
Heitor Pereira won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" (Chris Botti &
Sting) from Botti's album
To Love Again - The Duets
.
On September 25, 2007, Botti released his new album,
Italia
. The album places focus on Botti's Italian roots through such songs as "Ave Maria", "Venice", "Estatè", and the title track "Italia." In December 2007, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
In media
Botti was the leader of the
house band on the nationally syndicated daytime talk show
The Caroline Rhea Show
(a replacement for
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
) for its only season in 2002-2003.
He was named one of
People Magazine's
50 Most Beautiful People
of 2004.
For several years, Botti also hosted a radio show called
Chill with Chris Botti
, that focused mainly on "chill" music, which is described as "smooth jazz with a touch of
cool jazz." In 2007, saxophonist
Mindi Abair took over the hosting duties, and the show, using the same format as before, is now called
Chill with Mindi Abair.
With the success of
To Love Again
, Botti hosted a special concert at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles in December 2005 with many of the guest artists from the CD. It was recorded for airing on PBS in Spring 2006 as
Chris Botti: Live with Orchestra and Special Guests
, which also was released as a DVD.
Discography
- First Wish
(1995)
- Midnight Without You
(1997)
- Slowing Down the World
(1999)
- Night Sessions
(2001)
- The Very Best of Chris Botti
(2002)
- December
(2002)
- A Thousand Kisses Deep
(2003)
- When I Fall In Love
(2004)
- To Love Again: The Duets
(2005)
- Live: With Orchestra and Special Guests
(2006)
- Italia
(2007)
- Chris Botti in Boston
(2009)
See also
- 20th century brass instrumentalists
- List of trumpeters
- List of jazz trumpeters
References
- allmusic ((( Slowing Down the World > Overview )))
- allmusic ((( To Love Again: The Duets > Overview )))