Chris Botti
Blue Note131 West 3rd Street, New York 10012
Chris Botti brings his 22nd Annual Holiday Residency to Blue Note for a December 29 performance. The trumpeter has made the club a December home since 2005, and this date falls within the four-week run that stretches from mid-December into early January. The billed act is Botti himself; the listing does not name the musicians joining him or specify the exact set. Past editions of the residency have included impromptu guests, including Sting and John Mayer, but none are announced for this night.
Born in Portland, Oregon, Botti is a Grammy-winning trumpeter whose recent work has included a small-group project centered on acoustic jazz and classic standards. Blue Note calls him the largest-selling American instrumental artist and notes four No. 1 jazz albums, along with Gold, Platinum and Grammy Awards. His collaborators have included Sting, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock and Yo-Yo Ma. One reviewer calls him “a master of the cool,” placing his music at “the frontiers of modern jazz with a touch of pop”; another hears his melodies as “fascinating stories” and his notes as “unbelievably rich narratives.”
Blue Note Jazz Club is a dedicated listening room in the heart of Manhattan's jazz district, where the music is the focus and the space is designed to let the sound fill the room. The club features a stage with a small audience area, and the atmosphere is one of quiet concentration on the music. Shows typically begin at 8:00 PM with a second set at 10:30 PM, and the audience sits on chairs close to the stage. The club has a bar, and drinks are available. The experience is primarily about listening to live jazz, with occasional gospel and soul performances, and the audience often stays to talk and enjoy the music after the sets.