Chris Botti

Trumpeter Chris Botti's To Love Again: The Duets picks up where his stellar 2004 release When I Fall in Love leaves off, with more gorgeously lush and heartfelt orchestral jazz via the London Session Orchestra. This time showcasing guest vocalists – as well as a handful of instrumental tracks – Botti takes an even more classicist approach than before and once again brings to mind such iconic jazz albums as Clifford Brown with Strings and Miles Davis' Porgy and Bess. Largely known as a smooth jazz artist with a sweet trumpet tone, it wasn't until When I Fall in Love that Botti dropped the smooth jazz synthesizers and pop-oriented compositions in favor of Gil Evans-style jazz orchestrations and an acoustic backing quartet.

Trumpeter Chris Botti drops the synthesizers and drum loops of his previous effort, Thousand Kisses Deep, for a more elegant and traditional sound on When I Fall in Love. While Thousand Kisses Deep maximized Botti's penchant for mixing perfect pop songs with his Miles Davis-influenced jazz style, it nonetheless featured many of the electronic and processed sounds predictable on modern smooth jazz releases. By eschewing such "go to" pop-jazz production techniques as drum machines and synthesized strings in favor of the real instruments here, Botti ironically sounds utterly groundbreaking on what is ultimately a straight-ahead orchestral jazz album. While nowhere near as improvisationally adventurous as its predecessors, When I Fall in Love is still a revelation in the tradition of Sketches of Spain, Clifford Brown With Strings, and Wynton Marsalis' Hot House Flowers. Mixing standards and contemporary pop tunes all in a straight-ahead style, Botti gives his minimalist Miles-ian horn sound a chance to breath and be enjoyed on its own.

The story about there being more suicides around the holidays turns out to be a myth, but like all urban legends, it caught on among the populace (or at least among lazy journalists) because it sounds like it should be true; as trumpeter Chris Botti writes in a sleeve note to his seasonal collection, December, "At no other time of the year is there a wider array of emotions than the month of December." This is a clue that Botti, in acceding to his record company's request that he undertake a Christmas album, was not interested in simply celebrating the season in his interpretations of holiday standards. There have been other such contemplative Christmas records: George Winston's album, also called December, is calm rather than celebratory, and Barbra Streisand's Christmas Memories, released in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, is another collection that takes in the season's complexities.

One of the most popular instrumentalists in the world, trumpeter Chris Botti gets back to the jazz essence of his artistry on his Blue Note debut Vol. 1 featuring beautiful new ballad renditions of standards including “Old Folks,” “My Funny Valentine,” “Someday My Prince Will Come” & “Blue In Green” as well as a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” and the vocal feature “Paris” with John Splithoff. The album was produced by David Foster and also features performances by violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Taylor Eigsti, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and others.

There may be hope for jazz fusion after all. If there were no other evidence, trumpeter Chris Botti's terrific album would be enough to give hope to even the most jaded bebop snob. This is that rarest of things: a completely unchallenging record that is also richly rewarding. Botti's approach is lyrical but spare; the production is dark, warm, and rich. A sense of deep and quiet romanticism pervades everything, and while Botti never really lets loose and wails, he manages to make his chops obvious on tunes like "Cubism" and the funky "On the Night Ride." Most of the songs are powered by a gentle funk groove, and one even features a vocal cameo by Gen-X poster girl Edie Brickell. Jazz snobs will get sucked into this delicious music despite themselves; fans of Kenny G and Najee will think it's "real" jazz and consider themselves sophisticated for liking it so much…

The follow-up to his smash 2009 concert album Live in Boston, Chris Botti's studio album Impressions features more of the cool trumpeter's crossover jazz, pop, and classical stylings. Focusing on Botti's love of melody, Impressions is an aesthetically varied album featuring works by classical composers Frederic Chopin and Astor Piazzolla as well as standards by George Gershwin and Harold Arlen. While Botti's virtuoso playing is always the focal point of his albums, here we get more of his acclaimed collaborations, including tracks with such artists as jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist Mark Knopfler, country singer Vince Gill, composer/pianist/producer David Foster, and more.