BEHOLD THE CHRIS BOTTI EXPERIENCE
Renowned jazz trumpeter performs at The Argyros Summer Gala By Sabina Dana Plasse
Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer Chris Botti is an artist who connects to your soul. To hear his music is gratifying, to see him perform is unforgettable, and to speak with him transcends any artist experience you may ever have. When everything seems sideways, Chris Botti offers calm in the storm, and it’s nothing short of astonishing how he reaches the audience from his trumpet. Weaving in and out of musical genres, he makes what is possibly the most challenging instrument to play appear as if it is a mere extension of his hand. As an accomplished and revered jazz musician who can expand his musical boundaries to a wide range of musical genres, Botti has no limitations.
the limits of any single genre. The collection of musicians that appear with Botti is potent, always fresh to the ears, and excitingly unexpected. “For over 20 years, it’s never been the same,” he says. “It’s very gratifying. We are in our own lane and craft a show where the single most important element is the level of a musician performing with us. A concentrated effort on personality and craft on stage cannot happen anywhere else. We play whatever makes our guests shine. We flex some muscle on stage because we have talented musicians who are always ready to perform. There’s no rehearsal.”
“The single biggest hurdle in my career has also been the single biggest recipe for my career’s longevity,” he says. “It’s not just me and my trumpet. It’s an all-star musician show. It’s an event that can only be experienced by attending, as it’s always new and exciting.”
Perhaps what makes Botti one of the 21st century’s most respected musicians is not because of his incredible capacity to play the trumpet like very few can, but because he is oldschool. Having played in Frank Sinatra’s traveling band right out of college around 1984, he always held Sinatra’s stage presence and connection to his audience in high esteem.
Botti’s 2004 critically acclaimed album When I Fall in Love made him one of the largest-selling American instrumental artists due to his uncanny ability to cross over to audiences who usually prefer pop music. An ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 jazz albums and multiple Gold, Platinum, and Grammy Awards. His album, Impressions, won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental. Performing worldwide and selling more than four million albums, Botti has found a form of creative expression that begins in jazz and expands beyond
“Unlike today, with in-ear monitors, reading words off teleprompters, never looking at each other on stage, and always the same person counting off a song, Sinatra would walk out and project the music to the whole arena. He would have conservations in the first five rows and turn around and acknowledge the musicians on stage. He made it intimate. The audience was being let in on a moment. Jazz musicians don’t want to break these walls and mostly like to be aloof. However, I like to let the audience in on everything, even the screw-ups,” Botti shares.
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