Trumpet player, composer, Grammy Award winner. Christopher Stephen Botti is all of these.
Born in Oregon, USA, in 1962, he started playing the trumpet at age 9. He became "committed" to the trumpet when he was 12 years old, after hearing Miles Davis play My Funny Valentine.
He left Indiana University during his senior year for short touring gigs with Frank Sinatra and Buddy Rich.
In 1990 he began a decade long music relationship with artist Paul Simon (more on this later).
His solo career has included the release of 10 studio albums and 2 live albums, with a number of other albums that he has either produced, or performed as part of a group.
1. Call Me Al
(Concert in the Park - 1991)
We begin the show tonight with a track from Paul Simon's live alum Concert in The Park. Botti's 10 year relationship with Simon included both touring and recording with him. This album was recorded after the release of Rhythm of the Saints in 1990, as the Park referred to in the title was Central Park in New York. Just under 100,000 people attended that concert.
2.Worlds Outside
3. Fade to Day
(First Wish - 1995)
This was the debut album by Botti, released by Verve Forecast Records in February 1995. 9 of the 10 tracks were composed by him.
4. Drive Time
5. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (with Sting)
(Slowing Down the World - 1999)
This was Botti's third album and was released by GRP Records. Most of the pieces were composed by Botti, however In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning was actually composed in 1955 by David Mann, and featured as the title track of Frank Sinatra's 1955 album In The Wee Small Hours.
6. Hallelujah
(December - 2002)
Most performers seem to release a Christmas album at some stage in their careers and Botti is no exception, with this fifth album, December. All of the tracks are standard Christmas fare, except for this track, Hallelujah, which was written by Leonard Cohen. I think it must have been included on this album as some sort of ironic statement on the whole Christmas album genre. This album made it to number 4 on the US Jazz Charts.
7. Indian Summer
8. She Comes From Somewhere
(A Thousand Kisses Deep - 2003)
Studio album number 6 is also the third album with Columbia Records. Indian Summer was written by Mark Goldenberg and She Comes From Somewhere is written by Botti, together with Ciancia, Benji Hughes and Steve Lindsey. This was the third album in a row to make it to number 4 on the US Jazz Charts.
9. In Our Time
10. Dreams
(At This Time - 2004)
Burt Bacharach is one of the true legends of American music, with 73 top 40 hits in the US, stretching from the late 1950s for over 30 years.
In 2004 (aged 76) Bacharach released At This Time, featuring a number of artists playing together with Bacharach. In addition to these two tracks by Botti, other notable artists included Elvis Costello and Rufus Wainwright. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album in 2006.
1
1. Italia (with Andrea Bocelli)
12. Gabriel's Oboe - Theme from The Mission
13. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face (with Dean Martin)
14. Nessun Dorma - from Turandot
(Italia - 2007)
This was studio album number 9 for Botti, and this album sought to focus on Botti's Italian roots. This album made it to number one on the US Jazz Charts and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
Italia, which features the singing of Andrea Bocelli, was co written by Botti and David Foster.
Gabriel's Oboe was written by Ennio Morricone for the 1986 film The Mission.
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face was a song that featured in the 1956 musical My Fair Lady. Dean Martin recorded his version in 1960 for his album This Time I'm Swinging which was remastered as a duet with Botti.
Nessun Dorma is one of the most famous tenor arias in all opera and was composed by Puccini for his opera Turandot in 1924.
15. If I Ever Lose My Faith In You (with Sting and Dominic Miller)
16. Time to Say Goodbye
(Chris Botti - 2009)
This was Botti's second solo live album, and was released in 2009 through Decca Music Group. This album went platinum in the US and diamond in Poland, and was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You was originally composed by Sting in 1993.
Time to Say Goodbye (or Con te Partiro) was written by Francesco Sartori and Lucio Quarantotto. This is best known as a duet sung by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, recorded in 1996.
17. Tango Suite (with Herbie Hancock)
18. En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor
19. What a Wonderful World (with Mark Knopler)
(Impressions - 2012)
This is the latest studio album to have been released by Botti, in 2012. This album also made it to number 1 in the Billboard Jazz Chart, and was awarded the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
Tango Suite was co-written by Botti and Herbie Hancock, and features Hancock on piano with a duet of sorts with Botti.
En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor was originally composed by Joaquin Rodrigo as a guitar concerto in 1939.
We finish our show with a piece made famous by another trumpet playing legend, Louis Armstrong. It was composed by Bob Thiele and George Weiss in 1967 and had proved to be a successful song for Armstrong. It had a resurgence in chart success when it was re-released as a single in 1988 due to its use in the movie Good Morning Vietnam. Botti performs this as a duet with Mark Knopfler, of Dire Straits fame.
I hope you enjoyed this show. A different tempo to the last few shows we have programmed. I enjoy Chris Botti's playing, and I am sure there be at least a couple of more shows programmed featuring his music.
Next week we go back to the movies with a show originally aired last year, where we look at movies that feature brass playing. We'll be including Brassed Off, The Blues Brothers, The Glenn Miller Story, Mambo Kings, and more.
