Chris Botti

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Chris Botti
Background information
Born	October 12, 1962 (1962-10-12) (age 47) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Genres	Jazz Smooth Jazz
Occupations	Trumpeter Radio presenter
Instruments	Trumpet
Website	chrisbotti.com

Christopher Stephen Botti or Chris Botti [BOH-tee] (born October 12, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. Botti has been nominated for two Grammy Awards ^[1]. Three of his albums have reached the #1 position on the Billboard jazz albums chart.

Coming to prominence in the mid-1990s, Botti established a reputation as a versatile musician, excelling in both jazz and pop music.

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 started playing the trumpet at 9-years-old and committed to the instrument at age 12, when he heard Miles Davis play "My Funny Valentine."

In 1980, he was selected as a member of McDonalds’ All American High School Jazz band which marked his first Carnegie Hall performance. ^[2]

He ended up at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon by convincing his high school to allow him to fulfill his remaining senior year credits there. Botti constructed the scenario so that he could also play at Portland clubs in the evening. After graduating from high school, Botti studied under jazz educator David Baker and trumpet professor Bill Adam at Indiana University. Botti was also the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts which allowed him to study with with trumpeter Woody Shaw and saxophonist George Coleman during two consecutive summer breaks.

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."^[3]

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.^[4]

Botti has also performed or recorded with artists such as Frank Sinatra,Tony Bennet, 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.

Trumpet

Botti plays a Martin Committee Handcraft trumpet made in 1939, and uses a 3C silver plated mouthpiece from Bach made in 1926, having recently retired his 1920 3C Bach mouthpiece. He uses a Leblanc Vacchiano Harmon mute from the 1950s.^[5]

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

External links

• Official site
• Discography
• Chill with Chris Botti Radio Show
• About.com Interview with Chris Botti
• Chris is interviewed 2008 by Joanna Gulbinska
• Music Man Chris Botti's Playlist - Nightline 05/29/09 - lists his 5 favorite musical influences