NEW YORK, NY (Columbia Records) - Best-selling jazz trumpeter
Chris Botti - whose "What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life?" won a 2006 Grammy award - will co-headline a series of shows with the legendary American funk ensemble
Earth, Wind & Fire beginning July 18 in
Boston as part of the trumpeter's ongoing 2006 tour (see itinerary following).
A full concert version of the critically-acclaimed "CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests," which is being aired as part of this year's PBS Pledge Week, is slated for DVD release on Tuesday, August 29.
Columbia Records will release a new edition of Chris Botti's best-selling holiday album, December, premiering several new tracks including "I Really Don't Want Much for Xmas," featuring Eric Benet on vocals, on Tuesday, October 17.
"CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests," shot December 1 and 2, 2005, over a Thursday - Friday run at LA's fabled Wilshire Theatre, inspired the Los Angeles Times music critic Don Heckman to write, "It was apparent, from the first notes Chris Botti played at the Wilshire Theatre on Friday, that the sold-out house was in for a special evening ... Botti's latest album, 'To Love Again' - as well as the previously released 'When I Fall In Love' - features extraordinary lineups of vocal guest artists. Six showed up for the concert - Sting, Jill Scott, Paula Cole, Renee Olstead, Paul Buchanan and Gladys Knight - along with Burt Bacharach ... despite the inevitable audience excitement generated by the appearance of such vocal headliners and despite the artists' diversity of interpretations, it was Botti's virtuosic trumpet work, his inventive melody-making, his engaging onstage presence and his powerful band ... that ruled the evening ... "
During March Pledge Week, Chris Botti visited several local PBS affiliates - including New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, and the New Jersey State Network - to help support his PBS Pledge Drive special, "CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests" (check your local listings). Funds raised during the debut broadcasts of Botti's concert special rivaled the totals generated by some of PBS pledge drives' most popular musical events. A major success across the country during the March Pledge Week, "CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests" has been re-airing during June and may be seen later this year as part of PBS's August and December Pledge Weeks.
In recent years, the PBS pledge drive specials have served as bellwether events, helping to establish mainstream visibility for top caliber musical artists including Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, and Charlotte Church.
Chris Botti has been steadily developing a reputation as one of the nation's most compelling jazz artists. In a review of Botti's performance at the JVC Jazz Festival show at Carnegie Hall, The New York Times wrote," the blond, dapper Mr. Botti, from Portland, Ore., belongs to a long line of trumpeters who are also popular entertainers. His recent album, 'To Love Again' (Columbia), features ... trumpet-and-voice collaborations with Sting, Michael Buble, Jill Scott and (in the most unlikely team-up) Steven Tyler. Mr. Botti ... and his band, whose main man, the pianist Billy Childs, alternated between synthesizer and acoustic piano, performed sprawling, echo-heavy arrangements of songs ranging from Leonard Cohen's 'Thousand Kisses' to 'Flamenco Sketches' from (Miles) Davis's 'Kind of Blue,' the classic record that started it all."
Chris Botti Tour Dates
Saturday, June 24, 2006 Charleston WV University Of Charleston
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 London UK Ronnie Scotts
Thursday, June 29, 2006 London UK Ronnie Scotts
Friday, June 30, 2006 London UK Ronnie Scotts
Saturday, July 01, 2006 London UK Ronnie Scotts
Sunday, July 02, 2006 Glasgow UK Royal Bank Glasgow Festival
Saturday, July 08, 2006 Montreal Que Montreal Jazz Festival
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Istanbul Turkey Istanbul Jazz Fest
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 Istanbul Turkey Istanbul Jazz Fest
Thursday, July 13, 2006 Warsaw Poland Park Sowinskiego
Friday, July 14, 2006 Poznan PO Stary Bowkar
Saturday, July 15, 2006 Montreux Ch Montreux Jazz Festival
Sunday, July 16, 2006 Rotterdam Ne North Sea Jazz Festival
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Boston MA Bank One w/EWF
Thursday, July 20, 2006 Wantagh NY Jones Beach Amph w/EWF
Friday, July 21, 2006 Holmdel NJ PNC Bank Arts Center w/EWF
Saturday, July 22, 2006 San Francisco CA Davis Symphony Hall w/SF Symphony
Sunday, July 23, 2006 Bethel NY Bethel PAC
Monday, July 24, 2006 Saratoga Springs NY SPAC w/EWF
Sunday, July 30, 2006 Detroit MI Meadow Brook Music Festival w/ Detroit Symph
Tuesday, Aug 01, 2006 Cleveland OH Tower City Amph w/EWF
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006 Columbus OH Germain Amphitheatre w/EWF
Friday, Aug 04, 2006 Portland OR Mt. Hood Jazz Fest
Sunday, Aug 06, 2006 Wallingford CT Chevrolet Theatre w/EWF
Tuesday, Aug 08, 2006 Bethlehem PA Muzikfest
Wednesday, Aug 09, 2006 Chicago IL Charter One w/EWF
Thursday, Aug 10, 2006 Kettering OH Fraza Pavilion w/D. Sanborn Band
Friday, Aug 11, 2006 Atlanta GA Chastain Park w/ Atlanta Symphony
Saturday, Aug 12, 2006 Dallas TX Smirnoff w/EWF
Sunday, Aug 13, 2006 San Antonio TX Verizon w/EWF
Friday, Aug 18, 2006 Irvine CA Verizon w/EWF
Saturday, Aug 19, 2006 Canandaigua NY PAC
Monday, Aug 21, 2006 Jacksonville OR Britt Fest w/ Symphony
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2006 San Diego CA Bayside w/EWF
Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006 Santa Barbara CA Santa Barbara Bowl w/EWF
Thursday, Aug 24, 2006 Concord CA Chronicle Pavilion w/EWF
Friday, Aug 25, 2006 Park City UT Park City Jazz Fest, Deer Valley Resort
Saturday, Aug 26, 2006 Phoenix AZ Cricket w/EWF
Monday, Aug 28, 2006 Denver CO City Lights w/EWF
Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 Denver CO Botanical Gardens
Friday, Sept 01, 2006 Charlotte NC Verizon Wireless Amph w/EWF
Sunday, Sept 03, 2006 Tampa FL Ford Amphitheatre w/EWF
Monday, Sept 04, 2006 West Palm Beach FL Sound Advice w/EWF
Wednesday, Sept 06, 2006 Vienna VA The Filene Center - Wolftrap
Friday, Sept 08, 2006 Staten Island NY St. George Theatre
Saturday, Sept 16, 2006 Henderson NV Lake Las Vegas Resort
Sunday, Sept 17, 2006 Monterey CA Monterey Jazz Festival
Tuesday, Sept 26, 2006 San Francisco CA Bloomingdales Opening Gala
Friday, Sept 29, 2006 Saratoga CA Via Montalvo
Saturday, Sept 30, 2006 Kalamazoo MI James Miller Auditorium
Sunday, Oct 01, 2006 Vancouver BC Chan Center
Monday, Oct 02, 2006 Edmonton AL Winspear Centre
Tuesday, Oct 03, 2006 Calgary AL Knox United Church
Wednesday, Oct 04, 2006 Winnipeg Man. Burton Cummings Theatre
Thursday, Oct 05, 2006 Ottawa Ont. Centre Pointe Theatre
Friday, Oct 06, 2006 Toronto Ont. Wintergarden Theatre
Sunday, Oct 08, 2006 East Lansing MI Wharton Center
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 Rehoboth Beach DE Rehoboth Jazz Fest
Friday, Oct 13, 2006 Newark NJ NJPAC
Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 Troy NY Troy Music
Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006 Idaho Falls, ID TBA
Sunday, Oct 22, 2006 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theatre
Wednesday, Oct 25, 2006 Singapore Victoria Theatre
Thursday, Oct 26, 2006 Philippines TBA
Friday, Oct 27, 2006 Manila Ph Greenbelt Park
Saturday, Oct 28, 2006 Cebu Ph TBA
Sunday, Oct 29, 2006 Taipei Taiwan Taichung Jazz Festival
Monday, Oct 30, 2006 Hong Kong HK Hong Kong City Hall
Saturday, Nov 18, 2006 Atlantic City NJ Hilton Hotel/Casino TBA
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006 New York NY Blue Note
Wednesday, Dec 20, 2006 New York NY Blue Note
Thursday, Dec 21, 2006 New York NY Blue Note
Friday, Dec 22, 2006 New York NY Blue Note
Saturday, Dec 23, 2006 New York NY Blue Note
Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 New York NY Blue Note
