Chris Botti
Blue Note131 West 3rd Street, New York 10012
Trumpeter Chris Botti returns to Blue Note for the December 20 installment of his 22nd Annual Holiday Residency, a four-week run that spans mid-December into early January and includes Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The residency band listed for this date range pairs Botti with Lee Pearson on drums, Julius Rodriguez on piano, Barry Stephenson on bass, John Splithoff on vocals and Anastasiia Mazurok on violin. This is one night in a Blue Note tradition Botti has kept every December since 2005; the club says the run has also made room for impromptu guests in past years.
Blue Note calls Botti a “world renowned trumpeter,” while The Wall Street Journal has described his December Blue Note appearances as “a December institution in the Big Apple at the Blue Note.” The available material does not give a hometown or a fuller career history, but it places him firmly in the club’s holiday calendar. Previous residencies have brought unannounced appearances by Sting and John Mayer, according to the venue, and attendees have included Mary J. Blige and Paul Haggis.
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.