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Chris Botti: Playing to a worldwide audience
Chris Botti deserves a stellar introduction
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Chris Botti deserves a stellar introduction. He is talented, was named one of People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people in 2004 and is now touring the world with his new album. He is set to be the next instrumental star after Kenny G, Dave Koz and his idol Miles Davis.
He has played with big time stars like Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Burt Bacharach and Rod Stewart and had produced ten solo albums since 1995. Now, reaching a worldwide audience is on his mind.
"A lot of big jazz musicians don't care about reaching a worldwide audience. They want to go to a little club and play fast, *ting, ting, ting', and play a lot of notes, *la la la'. They care less about reaching out to the audience. That's why jazz, historically, has had this kind of *don't bother me' attitude," he told The Jakarta Post at the Shangri-La Hotel.
He is a jazz musician looking for a place in the popular scene and his vehicle is his trumpet, an instrument he has played since he was nine years old. His mother was actually a piano teacher, but the instrument did not appeal to him.
"She wanted me to be a pianist. When you are a kid, you make choices but you don't even realize why. I don't know, I just didn't feel like the instrument sat well with me. I thought anyone could play the piano. I wanted to play something no one else played," he said.
He had played the instrument for three years before he heard the music of American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis for the first time. He decided then he was destined to be a trumpet player.
"Miles Davis is greater than any other musician. He has the ability to break your heart with the trumpet. Other trumpet players can play very macho, very fast or very high, while Miles Davis has that sweet, dark, beautiful sound that makes you want to 'oh'. That's really what you want with music," he said.
He owes a lot to Davis as he does to Sting. He exposed the sounds of his trumpet to the world, including Indonesia, years ago and playing these two musicians' music made him a star. "In my lifetime, my ongoing relationship with Sting is the reason why I'm here," he said.
He has always musically associated himself with Davis, especially when you have to compare him with the more popular Kenny G, whom he said came more from R&B.
He said Kenny's popularity might eclipse his career. Some even compare the two and think Botti plays the saxophone. He has been faced with the challenge to create a unique sound. "I want to get people to listen for a second and say *I like that. That's really nice. I'm going to buy that'."
"Kenny and I play an instrument that requires you to use your wind power. But that's basically it. He's popular all over the world and I'm becoming popular all over the world. It doesn't mean to get to that same popularity, you have to play the exact same kind of music," he said.
He said "My music is a mixture of a bunch of things. It's certainly jazz. It's got some classical music in it, but it wraps around my sensibility of sophisticated pop music."
In his new album Italia, Botti offers the evocative sounds of Italian romance that link the world of jazz, pop and classical music. Renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli helps him bring out the country's romance with his graceful vocals in the song Italia, which was written by Botti and David Foster.
"I think the classical element of the album gives it a sort of dreamy quality. I'm very proud of the classical music influence of the album," he said. His interpretation of Ave Maria is suits jazz trumpet well.
Botti is in Jakarta on April 24 -27 to promote Italia, which is locally produced by Universal. The promotional tour is a prologue for his concert on May 24, 2008, at Balai Kartini.
"This means a lot to me, to feel accepted here and have my music really translate outside of America. To be the next instrumental star in Asia is something that's really huge to me.
I have an opportunity to really make my mark here and in China, Japan, Singapore and Korea. It is big to me," he said.
He is confident his music will reach a wider audience. Although his albums feature legendary jazz musicians, he said he made them in such a way they were "restrained and beautiful."
He has heard a lot about Asian music enthusiasts from his fellow artists and said he was eager to collaborate with artist, Anggun C Sasmi.
"I am such a fan of Anggun. I saw her on TV years ago, and God I want to work with her someday," he said.
"She likes the same kind of stuff I like. I like the her sound. I am sure she would sound good against my trumpet. I think we'd look good together on stage," he said.
