Customer Reviews

Chris Botti in Boston

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD has a range that is both unexpected and surprising. He hits high notes that will make Cat Anderson fans take notice and a lush sound that Howard McGhee fans will find soulful and welcome. There are moments that feel like his horn is praying...trumpet fans take notice, the "man" scores a perfect 10 on this one! Sting rocks on his tracks and the other soloists are a joy to listen to. John Mayer gets his groove on and the violin on Emmanuel is worth the price of the CD alone! BUY this CD...you will be SO glad you did!

Boy..if that DVD is any where near as good as the CD then the egg is on me. I bought two new live cds yesterday, Chris Botti and Stevie Nicks and I have to say that Chris botti takes the cake. He is brillant and this CD is a must have. I usually just like music only cds when I am listening to instrumentalists, BUT the vocals and guests on this CD are first class....he used to back up Sting...is this true. I was just informed of that..what a way to get your break. Sting is awesome on this CD as Yo Yo Ma. I love Chris, the ambience, the background band, and the guest vocals. I can't think of why you wouldn't just run out to get this CD. I had to go to three different stores to find it because it had been sold out in others. I also had to get my three year old a sucker for him to be patient enough while I carted him along!!! :) Thanks Chris a wonderfully made Cd. Hopefully next time I would love to be IN the audience.

You will feel that Chris Botti is making a personal appearance...right in your living room if you purchase his latest DVD in Blu-ray! A stellar cast of guest celebrities help Chris celebrate the joy of music in this Boston concert along with the Boston Pops Orchestra. So many guest artists from Sting to Josh Groban have never been better...but the violinist Lucia Micarelli...if she doesn't almost move you to "tears" with her virtuoso performance...then you must be made of "stone"! Rent it, buy it or view at a friend's house...but SEE THIS SOON-TO-BE ALL TIME CLASSIC!

This is an outstanding CD; however, the ad to sell it is confusing. In bold letters, it says "CD/DVD" later in the ad, it says "CD". I personally have the CD/DVD and because this ad used that phrase, I thought this would contain both. I was profoundly disappointed to learn there was no DVD. It was truly misleading advertising on the web site. :(

It ins't often that you can enjoy Botti's trumpet sound accompanied by the magnificent Boston Pops orchestra, in an acoustically superior venue. Buy the DVD/audio CD combo, you won't regret it. The encore with Billy Childs' piano during When I Fall In Love, and the duet with Lucia Micarelli makes the entire CD worth the purchase.

Over the years, the Boston Pops has hosted a large number of pop and jazz musicians. Sometimes the combinations work, sometimes they don't. This night, they pretty much did. Similarly, when pop stars tackle jazz standards out the Great American Songbook, the results can range from magical to awful. Here, the results stay in mostly in the middle, with some nice surprises. Though far from my favorite song on this album, Steven Tyler's version of "Smile" at least proves that one should not compartmentalize musicians.

Before my top picks from this album, a few words about Chris Botti. I admit having mixed feeling about his performances at times. Make no mistake, he is a great "technical" trumpeter, with a rich, lovely tone. What he sometimes lacks is the ability to really "swing"--either on ballads or "up" tunes--like he just doesn't "feel it." On this album, though, he does better at "finding the groove." So do the Pops and the guests, thanks in part to a first-rate rhythm section with Billy Childs on piano and Mark Whitfield on guitar leading the charge.

Now, for those "delights"--both surprises. First, there is John Mayer singing the chestnut ballad, "Glad To Be Unhappy." With a voice and delivery not unlike Kurt Elling, Mayer sings this ballad beautifully, with Botti taking a lovely solo.

The tune that takes the prize for the best on this album, though, is the Cole Porter composition, "I've Got You Under My Skin," most famously performed by Frank Sinatra with a sterling Nelson Riddle arrangement. Here it shines with a swinging vocal solo by Katharine McPhee (who, if you watch the video of this performance, is also playfully flirting with the band and audience during the song--she definitely is a beauty). Botti's short solo here echoes of Harry "Sweets" Edison's style--never playing two notes where one will do, swingingly playing the notes right on the beat. He is followed by Mark Whitfield playing a swinging solo. The Pops also swings this tune, pretty much following the original Riddle arrangement (hard to go wrong with that).

A nice bonus is Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" played beautifully by Botti and Whitfield with just a sparse string accompaniment. The only better version that I've heard is Sara Gazarek's luscious vocal version.

Overall, this is a very good album. Hopefully, it will acquaint a new group of listeners to some of the great tunes out of the Great American Songbook and encourage some talented pop artists to explore jazz a little more.

I would suggest anyone thinking of purchasing this CD certainly do so as it is a mastery of artists with a fine mix of jazz together with vocals. Having Sting singing his excellent rendition of Seven Days" with Chris Botti is the highlight of the album for me.BUY IT and ENJOY !!!!!

This should have at least been nominated for a Grammy. Emotionally evocative. Beautifully recorded. A collection of music preformed by artists that define the music of today across a wide swath of genres.

Greatly recommended to those who enjoy jazz trumpet. Recorded very crisp and clear. Many beautiful songs, and it's one of those albums you can put on repeat.

I saw him on TV and love the CD. I brought it with me to his show at the Blue Note in NYC and he signed it. Great souvenir.