NEW YORK (Columbia Records/ www.chrisbotti.com) - To Love Again, the much-anticipated new album of pop jazz standards from acclaimed trumpeter Chris Botti, has debuted at No 18 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling album, making history as the first album release from a jazz trumpeter to debut in the Top 50 during the SoundScan era.
In addition to its Top 200 breakout, To Love Again has debuted at No 1 on the Jazz Traditional Album Sales and the Jazz Overall Album Sales charts, according to SoundScan.
With first week's sales of 43,853 copies, it's Botti's best sales week ever. To Love Again has already reached a higher position on the Top 200 than any of Chris's previous albums, including his previous release, the RIAA Gold- certified When I Fall In Love. (When I Fall In Love debuted at No 124 before its rise up the charts, peaking at No 1 on the Top Jazz Albums chart and No 37 on the Top 200.)
Chris Botti has launched a major U.S. tour in support of To Love Again (see full itinerary following).
To Love Again, which is available as both a traditional CD and as a DualDisc, showcases Chris Botti's inimitable velvet tone and sublime trumpet phrasings on 13 newly recorded pop and jazz standards featuring nine stand-out vocal performances by some of the greatest singers in modern pop, jazz, and rock.
Joining Chris on To Love Again are guest vocalists Sting ("What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?"), Paula Cole ("My One And Only Love"), Michael Buble ("Let There Be Love"), Jill Scott ("Good Morning Heartache"), Paul Buchanan ("Are You Lonesome Tonight?"), Gladys Knight ("Lover Man"), Renee Olstead ("Pennies From Heaven"), Rosa Passos ("Here Comes That Rainy Day"), and, yes, that Steven Tyler (on Charlie Chaplin's "Smile").
Rounding out To Love Again are the instrumental tracks "What's New?," "I'll Be Seeing You," "Embraceable You," and "To Love Again." As on his last album, Chris Botti is joined once again by the London Session Orchestra, who provide lush tonal coloration to the album's arrangements.
The DualDisc edition of To Love Again features an exclusive short film, "Live From Studio A," shot in the famed studio at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. Chris and his quartet jammed as the cameras rolled and the result is four live songs and twenty three minutes of gorgeous sounding (and looking) contemporary jazz.
Two of the four songs performed live on the DualDisc, "To Love Again," and "I'll Be Seeing You," also appear on the audio CD in their original/studio versions with full orchestra. The other two songs, a pair of Miles Davis classics, "Flamenco Sketches" and "Milestones," do not appear on the audio CD in any form. As a bonus for jazz aficionados, "Flamenco Sketches" features guest saxophonist David Sanborn.
To Love Again follows the extraordinary success of Botti's groundbreaking last album, When I Fall In Love, which has sold more than 500,000 copies to- date.
Chris Botti Tour Dates
10/28/05 West Palm Beach, FL Raymond F. Kravis Center For The Performing Arts
10/29/05 Melbourne, FL Maxwell King Center For The Performing Arts
10/30/05 Naples, FL Performing Arts Center
11/02/05 Durham, NC The Carolina Theater / Durham
11/03/05 Annapolis Junction, MD Ramshead
11/04/05 Easton, PA Pennsylvania State Theatre
11/05/05 Lebanon, NH Lebanon Opera House
11/07/05 San Diego, CA Dave Koz Cruise
11/08/05 San Diego, CA Dave Koz Cruise
11/09/05 San Diego, CA Dave Koz Cruise
11/17/05 Morristown, NJ Morristown Community Theatre
11/18/05 Troy, NY Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
11/19/05 Westville, CT Southern Connecticut State College
11/25/05 Honolulu, HI Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Concert Hall
11/26/05 Honolulu, HI Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Concert Hall
12/01/05 Los Angeles, CA Wilshire Ebell Theatre
12/02/05 Los Angeles, CA Wilshire Ebell Theatre
12/06/05 New York, NY The Blue Note - New York
12/07/05 New York, NY The Blue Note - New York
12/08/05 New York, NY The Blue Note - New York
12/09/05 New York, NY The Blue Note - New York
12/10/05 New York, NY The Blue Note - New York
12/11/05 New York, NY The Blue Note - New York
01/07/06 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Art Hall
01/08/06 Columbus, OH Ohio Theatre
01/13/06 Texarkana, TX Perot Theatre, Theatre
01/19/06 Green Bay, WI Meyer Theatre
01/20/06 Cedarburg, WI Cedarburg Performing Art Center
01/21/06 Jasper, IN Jasper Community Arts Center
02/03/06 Greenvale, NY Tilles Center For The Performing Arts
