Award-Winning Trumpeter Chris Botti Will Perform at the McCoy Center in February

Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti will perform live in concert at 7 pm Sunday, February 25, 2024, at the McCoy Center for the Arts in New Albany. Botti’s brand-new record, Vol. 1, is in many ways a fresh start for the veteran musician. Having successfully crossed over from jazz renown to pop stardom, Botti’s first album in more than a decade finds him crossing back, with a small group project focused on acoustic jazz and classic standards.

Tickets start at $35 and may be purchased online at www.capa.com or www.CBUSArts.com, and by phone at (614) 469-0939.

Chris Botti has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world for nearly three decades; he’s collaborated with some of the biggest superstars on the planet, including Sting, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, Steven Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and others; he’s topped the jazz charts with numerous albums, earned multiple Gold and Platinum records, performed with symphony orchestras and on prestigious stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House.

While Botti could boast of the major names with whom he’s shared stages, Vol. 1, his first recording for venerated jazz label Blue Note Records, allows him to share his enthusiasm for the jazz greats past and present that excite him – his conversation is peppered with references to everyone from Miles Davis to Keith Jarrett to Pat Metheny to Brad Mehldau. He points to landmark albums like Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, or Metheny’s duo outing with Charlie Haden, Beyond the Missouri Sky as models for the kind of “lifestyle” music he set out to make – music that is exquisite on its own but can also set the scene for a coffee shop or hotel lounge, instantly generating a sophisticated mood.

Of course, Botti couldn’t have found a more ideal home for this artistic rebirth. Blue Note has been a standard-bearer of jazz throughout its storied history, and the trumpeter found a receptive partner in label president Don Was. “Anyone that's lucky enough to say they're on Blue Note Records should be pinching themselves,” Botti says. “It's a fantastic honor. I had great runs on Verve and Columbia, so it’s amazing to now arrive on the most famous traditional jazz record label.”

Not that Vol. 1 is a complete about-face – longtime fans will immediately recognize Botti’s glowing tone and regal melodicism, as well as his flair for investing the narrative of a song with high drama and vibrant emotion. “There’s a cinematic quality that I like to hear in music, and that I’ve found that audiences really love,” he says. “The essence of that remains on this album. It’s paramount to me that there is incredible beauty and elegance to all of the performances and the way they’re recorded.”

Botti has enjoyed a long collaboration with pianist Taylor Eigsti, while bassist Zach Moses, keyboardist Julian Pollack, and saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown are all members of his regular touring band. Veteran drummer Vinnie Colaiuta rounds out the core band.

They’re joined by a number of excellent musicians, including Israeli guitarist Gilad Hekselman, whose atmospheric, cascading lines grace the Rodgers & Hart classic “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”; classical violinist Joshua Bell, who brings a striking passion to Botti’s stark rendition of “My Funny Valentine”; Uruguayan-born guitarist Leonardo Amuedo, whose years in Brazil are reflected in his graceful soloing on Henry Mancini’s “Two for the Road” and the bossa nova feel he brings to “Time On My Hands”; pianist Esteban Castro, whose delicate restraint belies his youth on “Old Folks”; and singer-songwriter John Splithoff, who contributes and performs his romantic song “Paris.”

Above all, it’s Botti’s clarion, heart wrenching trumpet that seizes the spotlight throughout Vol. 1. From the way he sings the yearning melody of “Danny Boy” to the keening, airy melancholy of his Harmon mute playing on Miles Davis’ “Blue In Green”; the hushed tenderness he brings to Coldplay’s “Fix You” or his shimmering flurries on “Someday My Prince Will Come;” Botti leaves no doubt of his mastery or his ability to speak directly from the soul of the instrument.

The Chris Botti concert will be held immediately following the McCoy Center Soirée, the non-profit arts center’s annual fundraising event. For more information about the Soirée, visit www.McCoyCenter.org.

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