Chris Botti has a beautiful tone. His trumpet is clear, warm and caring, particularly on slow tunes. Recording since 1979, his first album as a leader, First Wish, was recorded in 1995. Along the way, he has performed and recorded with jazz greats as well as with pop stars such as Lady Gaga, Sting, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell, among others. His new album Vol. 1 (Blue Note) is a cozy collection of ballads. He's hoping for two more volumes. [Photo above of Chis Botti in October in Thermal, Calif., by Roger Kisby for The Wall Street Journal]
Produced by David Foster, Vol. 1 features performances by violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Taylor Eigsti, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and others. The tracks are Danny Boy; Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered; Two for the Road, Paris (with John Splithoff on vocal), Blue in Green, Time on My Hands, My Funny Valentine, Coldplay's Fix You and Old Folks.
A few weeks ago, I had a 50-minute Zoom with Chris for my WSJ "House Call" column. Chris lives in Thermal, Calif., at the Thermal Club, a private residential community that sits on a five-mile motorsport track. Chris owns three sport cars—a Porsche GT4 RS, a Porsche GT4 with a DeMan 4.5-liter engine, and a McLaren 720S.
He loves driving fast, without the fear of traffic or police stops. For Chris, though, the cars and track aren't really about speed. As he confessed to me, he simply loves the sound of the engines running hard, which he likened to "an exhilarating symphony."
What you'll love about his new album is the far off, ruminating sound of his horn. It's of the season, when we prepare to spend more time indoors and think back in time, remembering events, friends and family. Growing up, Chris enjoyed being solitary and worked hard at a young age to play the cornet and then the trumpet. Hanging out just wasn't of interest to him.
His early inspirations were Doc Severinsen and then Miles Davis, during the trumpeter's pre-fusion years. As Chris told me, "Unlike other trumpeters, Miles’s sound was tender, dark and nocturnal. There was a human quality about it."
The recording that first hooked Chris on the trumpet was the theme from Brian's Song, a 1971 TV movie, as played by Severinsen on Henry Mancini and Doc Severinsen: Brass on Ivory. Here it is...
You can read my WSJ interview with Chris here or in print on Friday in the WSJ's Mansion section.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Chris Botti's Vol. 1 (Blue Note) on streaming platforms and here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Chris playing Old Folks...
Here's two hours of Chris with Ben Butler on guitar, Caroline Campbell on violin, Sy Smith and Jo Lawry on vocals, Abdelrhani Krija on percussion, Richard Goods on bass, Ben Stivers on keyboards, Lee Pearson II on drums, Geoffrey Keezer on piano and Sting on vocals and bass...
