Jersey Arts Podcast
The Jersey Arts Podcast presents in-depth, one-on-one conversations with the liveliest and most intriguing personalities in New Jersey’s arts scene. From the casts of hit shows to critically acclaimed film producers; from world-renowned poets to classically trained musicians; from groundbreaking dance visionaries to cutting-edge fine artists, our podcast connects you to what’s happening in your local arts community.
Jersey Arts Podcast
Bewitched by Botti: A Chat with the Grammy Winning Trumpeter
Jazz fans, rejoice! Grammy winning trumpeter, Chris Botti, will be gracing the stage of the Mayo Performing Arts Center this April.
For nearly three decades now, Botti has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world, boasting collaborations with stars like Sting, Paul Simon, Barbara Streisand, Lady Gaga, Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bocelli and many more.
His most recent album, produced by David Foster and entitled "Vol. 1," marks his debut album with Blue Note Records and features such classics as "My Funny Valentine," "Danny Boy, and "Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered." Some of which you might expect to hear at his upcoming performance. While his concerts tend to surprise audiences, you can certainly expect to be entertained.
Today’s episode finds Chris and Gina discussing his journey to becoming a musician, tales from the stage, advice for future performers and everything in between. Take a listen.
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This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're listening to the Jersey Arts Podcast. Jazz fans rejoice. Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti will be gracing the stage of the Mayo Performing Arts Center this April. For nearly three decades now, bode has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world, boasting collaborations with stars like Sting, Paul Simon, Barbara Streisand, Lady Gaga, Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bocelli and many more. His most recent album, produced by David Foster and entitled Volume 1, marks his debut album with Blue Note Records and features such classics as My Funny Valentine, Danny Boy, and Bewitched, bothered, bewildered, some of which you might expect to hear at his upcoming performance. While his concerts tend to surprise audiences, you can certainly expect to be entertained. Today's episode finds Chris and I discussing his journey to becoming a musician, tales from the stage, advice for future performers and everything in between. Take a listen.
Chris Botti:Can I ask you a question? Are you a musician, are you a background?
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I am not a musician. I am a writer, actor, director, so I know very little about music, which we can kind of talk about as I ask you questions that may seem ridiculous to you.
Chris Botti:Not at all Okay.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:So in my research I had heard that you had a special relationship to the song my Funny Valentine by Miles Davis. Is that true?
Chris Botti:Yeah Well, I had picked up the trumpet originally because of a gentleman on television who was the band leader for the tonight show, doc severance, and who was the band leader for johnny carson. That kind of trumpet playing. It's so admirable and so wonderful, uh. But it's not as heartbreaking as when miles davis plays my funny valentine. And that's when I first heard my funny valentine um delivered sort of, so to speak, through through Miles Davis's horn, and that's what made me want to become a jazz musician.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Do you remember what age you were when you first decided that?
Chris Botti:11 or 12, something like that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I think that's fantastic. I definitely did not know what I wanted to do at 11 or 12. Sometimes I still don't. So there's that You've. I mean, you've been working in this field for a while now and I'm wondering if you have any moments that stand out to you, something extremely positive that happened to you on stage that will stay with you for the end of time.
Chris Botti:Well, so many of them, I mean my, you know, being able to work with so many great legendary artists which I think I've probably checked as many boxes you can check and having those big moments, so to speak. But I think maybe my relationship with Sting and his kind of belief in me that an instrument could cross over into a popular music genre, a stamp of approval sort of that was cultivated over a few years of being in this band and stuff like that, I think that's probably the most fun. I mean, I've guested and and gone out and done music with so many different artists but when we get together on stage it's pretty special.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I think that's fantastic. I think I've heard you refer to him as family in the past. Does it feel?
Chris Botti:that way. Yeah, absolutely.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Well thankful for Sting, Thankful that he introduced you to the world. I was going to ask you how you feel about collaboration, since there are visual artists who tend to work alone and really appreciate that stamp of individualism, but in music you tend to come together with a band. And how does collaboration feel to you?
Chris Botti:Well, I'm clearly sort of built my career on it. My live in Boston, just the one concert that kind of really helped me so much in 2008 or 2009, and that had John Mayer, steven Tyler, yo-yo Ma Sting, josh Groban all of them on that show you know like as collaborators, and it was awesome. I mean, that's the great thing about music is being able to like play with people that don't really necessarily go into the jazz world but you can kind of find a common ground because I have a lot of respect for like really sophisticated popular music. So that has been a great thing motivating factor to collaborate with people.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I tend to love the word jam session and I don't know if that's only when you're practicing or if it counts when you're up on stage in front of 30,000 people, but I like the idea that it's just a bunch of people having fun together.
Chris Botti:Well, I think it's like anything. Whether it's tennis or golf or Formula One, there's rules that maybe the audience isn't seeing. You know. So the jam session.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:There are certain kind of you know guideposts, but, for instance, it is much looser and freer flowing communication than a pop music show, that's for sure see, this is how you can tell that I'm not a musician, but I think that, uh, music is, it's a language really all its own, and there's an album that you have, and I'm I might be reaching to make this tie-in, but you have an album called italia, and I know that you used to live in Italy for a short period of time and I'm wondering if that album was at all an act of cultural reclamation or a part of a language learning journey. Or maybe I'm just relating that to myself, because that's the point of my life.
Chris Botti:I'm at it's sort of a romantic. Two ends of the, the uh cord, got tied together. So I, because I grew up there together uh, I grew up there for first and second grade, my father's italian and I thought, well, this is it's. It's very romantic for an american italian to like, oh, italy, the home country, blah blah. But being able to go there and then duet with, like andre bocelli and and you know it's, it's a, it's a very, very, very nice kind of thing to to do, to find a different path from my music that sort of crosses into that faux classical world and the. My relationship with bocelli and what he's done singing on my Italian record and singing on my later on albums impressions is amazing. He's been a great friend and and that's all because of the Italy, blah, blah, blah, you know hookup.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I would be lying if I said I weren't a bit envious, Just a bit. That same album, Italia. You I don't know how the digital magic works, but you also collaborated with Dean Martin, or Dean Martin's old vocals.
Chris Botti:Yeah, so between 1999 and 2009, I made most of my records at Capitol Studios, capitol Records here in Los Angeles, around very famous building of the Beatles recorded in a bunch of stuff. So yeah, so Dean Martin recorded his albums at Capitol. And so from the years 1999 to 2009, uh, I recorded my records at Capitol Records and the people would see me in the hallway and they were like, oh, maybe you want to do a duet with Dean. We had the um, the, his vocal performance, but everything else would need to be replaced. And so we went in with my band and we kind of mapped out a template against the old track and it worked out great. I mean, it's a modern technology sleight of hand, but it's great.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I think that's so cool. I am also Italian-American, so I have a really strong connection to Dean Martin and the Rat Pack in general, so I think that's just a really cool thing that technology has allowed us to do. Yeah, I want to talk a little bit about Volume 1, right, because that's your latest album, and there's been about a what a decade in between this album and the last.
Chris Botti:Thank you very much for pointing that out.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Well, why is that? Can I ask?
Chris Botti:that up. Well, why is that, can I ask sure? Um, so the record business has been changing, as we know, so radically the shift from going from I was on columbia to from 01 to 16 or something like that, but they kind of got out of the jazz business and got into the Adele business. It's great, I mean, so it's a good move for them personally. However, we got, we left Columbia and we had to do a deal, and then COVID happened and everything got delayed and the lawyers and the blah, blah, blah, and so it just takes a little bit longer than you think and all of a sudden you look up and go oh my goodness, I've been touring and doing all this stuff and not making any records, but I used to make a record a year when the record business was like super happening. So now people review your show within the first 30 minutes and they're online and the promoter says are we going to have them back or not? And that's my job is to like make sure the audience is happy and we get asked back.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Wow, see, as somebody who isn't in the music industry, there's a lot that I don't know about how that works and how it's changing. So I do realize that the internet has affected a lot of our lives and that instant gratification that we all kind of thrive on. It's a little bit scary sometimes.
Chris Botti:It's a little bit scary. Thrive on it's a little bit scary.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Sometimes it's a little bit scary, but that this new album is. I believe David Foster is also a producer on this album.
Chris Botti:He is the producer, yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Awesome, and you'll be touring with him this coming summer.
Chris Botti:Yeah, we're doing a duet show. We did a couple of them last year in florida together. Uh, we've been really good friends for a long time and so so this is, uh, it's a great way for the audience to see like the iconic pure popular music production space then fill it all up with like the catastrophe of like jazz and sane uh repartee back and forth, and I think the varying uh terrain musically, uh for the audience is really our best asset to show the audience like all these different, like from you know, whitney houston, to like crazy miles davis stuff that there is a link of just good musicians behind you and and that's what we keep our eye on, which is very unique these days.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Yeah, I, so I was looking through the song list. I'm back to volume one. I don't I don't know if you'll be using songs from Volume 1 in that duet or not.
Chris Botti:We do a few things from Volume 1, yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:But I was looking through your song list and my favorite song happens to be on there Bewitched, bothered, bewildered.
Chris Botti:Oh well, great song, One of my absolute favorites.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Do you have any personal connection to these stories? I'm trying to avoid the question. I love to ask which is what's your favorite song Without having these stories?
Chris Botti:I'm trying to avoid the question I love to ask which is what's your favorite song, without having to outright ask you your favorite song, what song do you connect most to on this last album? What happened is is that I played I'm not going to say who, but, uh, I played someone down the the aisle in 2011 at a very, you know, celebrity fueled um, wedding party, um, and the actual ceremony and at the end of the night, this woman comes up to me and goes chris, you sounded great, we should do something together, and it was barbara streisand. But you, you don't think like that's going to happen, like that's such an la kind of moment where someone goes oh yeah, we should do something together, and you're like huh, okay, sure.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Right Of all people.
Chris Botti:And so a couple of years later my manager gets a call, says Barbara wants to have a meeting. And we went and had a meeting with her and she doesn't have an opening act. What she has is in the middle of her show she brings me on and we would she. She has is in the middle of her show, she brings me on, we would, she and I would do five duets together and then she would leave the stage and I would play a couple of my own things and then she would come back and sing. Now, when she came back and sing every single night on that tour she would sing bewitched, bothered and bewildered and it was so impressive. I mean, everything she sings is quite remarkable and iconic and impressive. I understand that. But there's this vulnerability and tenderness that she sings Bewitched. That's so mesmerizing. And I just said you know, ms Streisand, I'm going to record Bewitched, bothered, bewildered someday and I'll secretly dedicate it to you for your great performances. So that's my favorite song on the Volume 1 record for that reason.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I fully support that, as it is my favorite song. I have to agree with you. There was something you said in a previous interview and I'm going to misquote you, but I believe it was something to the effect of music makes you present and if you're not present you will get hurt or embarrassed. But I think that's such a I mean it's accurate in the sense that it's very literal that if you mess up, if you're not present, you will mess up in the moment and embarrass yourself. But it's also very philosophical that we have to live our lives in the present moment. And the question there is how do you feel about that now?
Chris Botti:I, I kick and scream and hate it. It's the truth, you know, um, but music, a lot of things make you. You know you have to be present. They don't call it a parenthood parent. Being a parent is being present. A parent, um, and I, I, I think music is just one of those things that keeps you grounded. I mean, I've recently gotten into racing cars and that can make you present real quick as well when you're on a track and you're going some obnoxious speed, and so there's a lot of things, or a few things, that can bring you into the present, and I try to find things that are good for that, if that makes any sense.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:It does. No, I think that's an important way to live because, as silly as it sounds, so many of us forget to live in the present. We're either stuck in the past or wondering what is our future going to be? What's my five-year plan?
Chris Botti:No kidding, you're so right, you're so right.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:That's very tough, but you you had just mentioned parenthood and I guess I wanted to ask you if were there any parents listening now of children who are learning the trumpet, or if there are some children who are listening who are learning the trumpet, do you have any advice for them, any words of wisdom for someone learning to blow the horn?
Chris Botti:Well, you know, I think there's a weird thing that happens with parents and kids if they want to become musicians. So I think, like every parent is convinced their son or daughter is going to be the next Paul McCartney or whatever. But when they come out of the practice room at age 13, they say I'm really going to move to New York. Then the parents are like wait, we want you to be a doctor or a lawyer. We don't want, we want you to run after Paul McCartney, like that way. So they want to have protect their kids.
Chris Botti:So I think that the children, music people they have to like, find the fire that burns within them to practice all those hours. And then they have to spend the majority of their teenage years convincing their parents and their family that they haven't lost their mind to go after this thing. And that's a really big thing to ask a young person and it's very um courageous thing to stand there and say, even if they don't want to do it, to stand there and say I want to do this or I don't want to do this, and um, the dynamic between the parent and the child is is put on a test here, you know, because being a musician is no joke, commitment wise, and so you have to.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:You have to be in it big, and you know going home is not an option, kind of this may seem out of left field if you haven't seen the movie, but have you ever seen the movie Selena with JLo?
Chris Botti:Have not, is it good? Well, I thought you were going to say whiplash there for a second. But I was, I was bracing myself.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I actually still need to see whiplash. The reason I brought up Selena is because there's a scene in that movie where the, the younger version of selena, talks about how much she hates practice. She's in a band with her uh siblings and they just hated practice. They grew up to love it, obviously, and it became their career. But I I wonder if you loved the instrument so much that you enjoyed every moment of practice, or if it was Well.
Chris Botti:I'm not not enjoyed, but I never. The kind of the isolation or practicing, you know, wasn't intimidating to me. I really liked it and I had really good teachers at a very young age. So my mom instilled upon me this thing If you really admire someone, just go up to them and ask them if you can get a lesson. I would say this to any young person playing an instrument whoever your favorite musicians are, just go to their concert and walk backstage. I've done it when I was a kid. I've done it, you know, like you just walk back, be nice to someone, extend your hand, say will you give me a lesson? You'd be surprised how many people will say yes.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Has that happened to you before? Have people asked you for lessons?
Chris Botti:Of course, and I'm giving them lessons right after the show, like, and because they hear me say this stuff, and but it's important to me to fuel that energy and a young person to think beyond the school they're in or beyond the class they're taking. You got to think outside the box and so you got to go to the backstage door at some jazz club or some orchestra and get to meet your violin hero or whatever. I think that's important and it brings the reality of being a musician in front of a young person that says this is the person that you're wanting to, you know, like, look up to. So here they are, let them bestow little kind of you know, some nuggets of information.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I think that is amazing advice.
Chris Botti:Look up to these people that you are attempting to emulate and just don't be afraid to approach them and, and the most important thing, is to know that the, the, the void between you and them, while it might be years or distance, it's it's not as crazy out there as you think and they're not as unattainable and they're not, as you know, imaginary. You know, like so many of the trumpet masters that I met when I was a kid, that I looked up to. If I would just ask them this one question, would you have 15 minutes to like, talk to me about, like, something? All of them, 100% said yes. It's very interesting that, and I think that that removes the mystery of like. You know, oh, I could never go up and ask XXX, some stuff, but you can.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I think that's pivotal. It's less so the lesson and more so the encouragement that's coming from someone who has succeeded.
Chris Botti:I think that's great.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:We'll see how many kids come up to you after your Mayo Pack performance now, I'm intrigued'm intrigued your parents. How did your parents first decided this is what I'm going to do with my life.
Chris Botti:I'm going to be a trumpeter well, my parents didn't decide, I decided. Is that what you asked?
Gina Marie Rodriguez:oh, no what. How did they react to your decision?
Chris Botti:oh, I see well, it was, it was. It was never in the they were. They never had an option. So I said at 12, when I heard Miles Davis play my Funny Valentine, I said that's it, I'm going to be a musician. So between the time I'm 12 to 18, I would have to do everything in my waking power to like prove to them that I'm committed. So by the time we got to be 18, they were like, okay, see you later. And I just like left for college. And they were. They totally knew there was no talking me out. They didn't try to talk me out of it necessarily, but I was just so gung ho this way there was no plan B, there was no fallback, nothing to go.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:I think that's really important to have parents who stand behind you as well, and there are so many.
Chris Botti:But they'll only stand behind you if you lead the way. Because I've met a lot of kids and I'll say, like, what kind of music do you like? They're like, well, I really like all kinds of music. You're not going to make it Because, like, really, the ones that make it have a singular perspective and a singular. They love whatever it is. They love it's a pearlman, or they love hyphens, or they love chopin, or they love miles davis, or they love john coltrane, but they don't go well, I like john coltrane and britney spears. I'm not dissing on britney spears, but what I'm saying is that their, their focus is usually, um, really amped in one direction and um and that's important for classical music and jazz to flourish, it needs to be, uh, really practiced, and passionately. People need to give up a lot of their childhood to like get good at it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Sadly, I've heard that advice before and I do think it's important, but lizzo always springs to mind when I hear that, because she's someone who not only plays the flute, but she. She then became a pop singer and I feel like those two things are very separate, but she was able to bring them together into one unique art form. Well, it's still two art forms, but she's made a career out of it.
Chris Botti:Singing is an art form, the flute is. No, I'm kidding, that's a trumpet joke.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:They're both. Hey, you're talking to someone who has zero breath control. I can't walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded, so there's no way. I could play a wind instrument at all. All right, my last question, I promise, is we're approaching your performance at Mayo Pack. What would you like to say to New Jersey audiences who are looking forward to seeing you?
Chris Botti:So one of the main questions I get asked all the time is like what should we expect for your show coming up? Blah, blah, blah, and. And. All I would say is like I'm a big U2 fan and if you purchase tickets to see U2. Guarantee, you're going to think well, there's going to be the four Irish gentlemen on the stage and they will perform their songs to big screens and loud music and I'm going to dig it. Okay, that's not the case with me.
Chris Botti:If you come see my show, the last thing we're going to do is really replicate our albums live, because in jazz music it's a very personal. You're usually coming into someone's life, either headphones or in their car or in their house while they're cooking or hanging out. Blah, blah, and and. And if you're going to reduplicate one of my records, if you can't do it live. So when you do it live, you need to like show off, like muscle and and uh drama of a show, and you need to have a bunch of superstars on the stage to take the show in an arc that goes like this up and down, and up and down, and up and down.
Chris Botti:Okay, but on a record you want everything to be. This is this beautiful tapestry of music, but my show constantly is the same. All the time people come and said I had no idea what to expect, but now we're your fans. This is now our 12th time seeing you a lot, and that is the best thing. When people come see multiple shows and they say we had no idea what to expect. We thought it would be just a guy with a trumpet, but we see now it's like a world-class talent. Rubik's Cube of an all-star band, and that makes me very happy. Rubik's Cube of an all-star band, and that makes me very happy.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:That was a long-winded answer no.
Chris Botti:I think that was the best answer.
Gina Marie Rodriguez:Sorry that was the best answer you could have given me. The wonderful Chris Botti and his brilliant band will be beguiling audiences at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, New Jersey, on Saturday, April 12th, at 8 pm. For tickets and more information, be sure to visit MayoArts. org. If you liked this episode, be sure to review, subscribe and tell your friends. A transcript of this podcast, links relevant to the story and more about the arts in New Jersey can be found at JerseyArts. com. The Jersey Arts Podcast is presented by Art Pride New Jersey, advancing a state of creativity since 1986. The show was co-founded by and currently supported by funds from, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. This episode was hosted, edited and produced by me, Gina Marie Rodriguez. Executive producers are Jim Atkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez, and my thanks to Chris Botti for speaking with me today. I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez for the Jersey Arts Podcast. Thanks for listening.
