Chris Botti

Botti began to play the trumpet at the young age of nine, and grew very fond of it following a listen of Miles Davis playing “My Funny Valentine”. Through a great amount of practice and hard graft, when he was seventeen, he enrolled at Mount Hood Community College, promising his high school that he would achieve his senior year credits. He would go to school by day and then play at the clubs by night. It was around this time that he earned the opportunities to study under some of the world’s trumpet heavyweights such as David Baker, Bill Adam and Woody Shaw.

Botti didn’t complete his final year of university, due to the opportunity to play with Frank Sinatra and Buddy Rich. He relocated to New York City to work on his craft as a session musician, and combined with his entrepreneurial skills, he performed with Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell and more. Most notably around this time, he performed with Paul Simon in Central Park on The Rhythm of the Saints tour.

Botti’s released a series of solo albums between 1995 and 1999 that featured collaborations with Sting. In 1999, he was invited to tour with Sting on the Brand New Day tour. He claims that his working relationship with Sting changed his career.

Following the success with Sting, he signed a record deal with Columbia Recordings and released and album called “Night Sessions” in 2001, before quickly releasing another album that featured a composition by Richard Marx. He released an album each year, each one being of a great standard, with a credible accolade that made it special, including his album “Italia”, on which he joins forces with Andrea Bocelli. In 2009 with His studio albums from “When I Fall in Love” up until “Impressions” have all reached the number one spot on the Jazz charts.