Interview: Chris Botti

In the time leading up to the pandemic, Chris Botti wasn’t sure if he’d add any new albums to the 10 studio releases that had made up his catalog through 2012.

Obviously, album sales had tanked as streaming and downloading took hold, and with Botti’s touring business being robust, he began to think there was no need for more of his music. He even was entertaining the thought of leaving Columbia Records, the label that signed him before his fourth album, 2001’s “Night Sessions,” and had helped elevate him to a place where his albums consistently hit the top of the jazz chart.

“Well, first of all, I had been with Columbia Records for so long and they did such a great job for me. But as the 2015, 16, 17, 18, right in there, I could kind of tell that Columbia Records was basically kind of in the Adele business, which I don’t fault them for. I think it’s a fine business,” Botti said in a recent phone interview. “And so I kind of spent those years just touring and letting our touring do the talking.”

But coming out of the pandemic, two things surfaced that changed Botti’s thinking. Now this year, he’s on tour with an album, “Vol. 1,” that arrived in October 2023 and he’s planning more trips to the studio to make at least two more albums.

“This opportunity came up to go to Blue Note, and that was thrilling because it’s such an iconic label,” Botti said. “And (label president) Don Was has been lovely to me, letting me kind of do whatever I want. Then obviously, having David Foster produce was the kind of kick in the butt. I felt if I could get him to come out of retirement and produce me, it would be super special and we should do this. So over dinner, I asked him and he said ‘Sure.’ I think that was maybe, ‘Vol. 1,’ the highlight was really kind of having his involvement and expertise in so many different ways. It was different for him, too, because he’s not a jazz musician. So I think that was a really, really unique thing. We’ve had a special friendship for so long. And it was so great to just officially have him as my producer on this record.”

Foster, of course, has had a storied career as a producer, songwriter, recording artist and keyboardist, producing and writing on hit albums for Chicago, Boz Scaggs, Josh Groban, Celine Dion and Michael Buble among many others. He also helmed his own label, 143 Records in a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records and chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. Along the way, Foster took home 16 Grammy Awards.

In approaching “Vol. 1,” project, Botti and Foster decided it would be a small group project featuring acoustic instrumentation and a selection romantic standards such as “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “My Funny Valentine” and “Someday My Prince Will Come,” along with a couple of more contemporary tunes, including a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” – all centered around Botti’s trumpet.

While Botti has frequently used full orchestras on his previous albums, he knew this album called for a leaner treatment for the material.

“Part of the problem when you do one of those big orchestra records, you Google for an arranger and you turn over like everything to arranger. Then you fly all the way to London and you stand before the orchestra and if it doesn’t work, it’s toast,” Botti said. “But when you’re doing something that is more stripped back like this, you can change songs, change (arrangements). We’d done that Coldplay arrangement in like five minutes. We just kind of like said ‘I love that song ‘Fix You.’ We always do it (live) and we kind of just jammed it out. And you can’t really do that with an orchestra. You have to go through all the hoops. Anyhow, this was so much more immediate, and we wanted to do a lifestyle record that was definitely stripped back, that was central to the sound of my horn and do kind of a more jazz record, but still make it lifestyle and approachable for people to listen to.”

Botti and Foster got the album they wanted. “Vol. 1” is an elegant, highly melodic ballad-focused work. The judicious production leaves space that not only allows Botti’s trumpet playing to shine, but also gives piano, guitar, percussion and other instrumentation a distinct place and presence within the songs.

Elegance and sophistication have been constants for Botti throughout a career that began in the mid 1980s. A native of Oregon, Botti first began gaining notice when he joined Paul Simon’s touring band in 1990, a touring relationship that would continue through the 1990s.

Botti began his solo career in 1995 with the CD, “First Wish,” but it was in 2000 that his career got a pivotal boost when Sting hired the trumpeter to join his band for his “Brand New Day” tour. In the midst of that tour with Sting, Botti was signed by Columbia Records and released the “Night Sessions” CD. His profile and reputation as a player have only continued to grow since then as albums like 2004’s “When I Fall In Love,” 2007’s “Italia” and his biggest release, the 2009 concert album “Chris Botti In Boston,” have topped the jazz charts, and especially in the case of that latter album, crossed over to pop.

Along the way, Botti has been one of music’s most prolific touring artists, commonly playing upwards of 250 shows a year. Now 62, he doesn’t see himself backing off of that schedule much any time soon, although he mentioned he might take a little more time off of the road to pursue a new hobby – racing high-end cars at a private track facility adjacent to his home.

“I’ve sort of painted myself this picture where touring is my life,” he said. “I don’t really necessarily have a family or kids or anything, so that’s kind of what nourishes me is to go on the road. So yeah, I really, really enjoy it.”

His current shows include several selections from “Vol. 1,” but don’t expect an evening filled only with ballads from across Botti’s career.

“In order to get an audience to feel music in their seats, so to speak, in their core, you can’t just play necessarily all of the beautiful stuff,” he said. “You’ve got to hit them with some visceral, kind of flashy and musical chop-oriented stuff that makes them go ‘Oh my God!,’ you know, like ‘Boom!’”

Botti considers the “Vol. 1” title very much signaling a new phase in his career, and looking ahead, he sees himself picking up the pace on making albums while he maintains his heavy touring regimen.

“I’ll hopefully be on board with Blue Note for at least ‘Vol. 1,’ ‘2’ and ‘3.’ And we can knock them out pretty (quickly), like every year or year and a half,” Botti said. “That’s kind of what my thought process is, maybe do three things for Blue Note.”

As for racing, he said he might take just a little time away from touring for that new passion.

"Right now I’m just working on trying to become competent on the track. Whether I’ll ever race against someone, I don’t know. I’m doing it more for the learning skill,” Botti said. “There’s a certain discipline to learning trumpet and it’s very similar to car racing. So I’m enjoying that aspect of it.”