His 2007 effort, Italia, was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Smooth jazz for the hip crowd is what trumpeter and composer Chris Botti provides the musical world.
Perhaps what separates the Oregon native from his peers is he rarely enters into the schmaltzy sounds of, say, Kenny G. Instead, there's an edge to Botti's work, which explains why he's played with so many big names in his nearly 15-year career. The list includes Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Jill Scott, Josh Groban, Michael Bubl , Dave Koz, Paul Simon and Rod Stewart.
For Botti, he's on a musical adventure, hoping to imbue a special universe and atmosphere where sentiment and mood can be instantly created with a simple note or musical phrase. In other words, the 45-year-old is following in the footsteps of the great Miles Davis.
“Miles Davis was a guy that, like a few instrumentalists, was able to play a couple of notes and break your heart," said Botti, calling from Central Park in New York City. “That's what I love in music, and certainly if you look at the career of a guy like Miles Davis, he didn't really have a hit and he never had a hit song, ever. He had a general mood to his trumpet playing, and really the most important thing is that you connected with the mood that he's trying to convey rather than Chuck Mangione, who had a hit.
“That's really kind of what I love about Miles Davis or Keith Jarrett or Frank Sinatra is that ability to sing or play music that kind of takes the person to that melancholy state."
Smooth jazz for the hip crowd is what trumpeter and composer Chris Botti provides the musical world.
Perhaps what separates the Oregon native from his peers is he rarely enters into the schmaltzy sounds of, say, Kenny G. Instead, there's an edge to Botti's work, which explains why he's played with so many big names in his nearly 15-year career. The list includes Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Jill Scott, Josh Groban, Michael Bubl , Dave Koz, Paul Simon and Rod Stewart.
For Botti, he's on a musical adventure, hoping to imbue a special universe and atmosphere where sentiment and mood can be instantly created with a simple note or musical phrase. In other words, the 45-year-old is following in the footsteps of the great Miles Davis.
“Miles Davis was a guy that, like a few instrumentalists, was able to play a couple of notes and break your heart," said Botti, calling from Central Park in New York City. “That's what I love in music, and certainly if you look at the career of a guy like Miles Davis, he didn't really have a hit and he never had a hit song, ever. He had a general mood to his trumpet playing, and really the most important thing is that you connected with the mood that he's trying to convey rather than Chuck Mangione, who had a hit.
“That's really kind of what I love about Miles Davis or Keith Jarrett or Frank Sinatra is that ability to sing or play music that kind of takes the person to that melancholy state."
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