April 3, 2025 • 25 mins
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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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (00:03):
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
Jazz fans rejoice.
Grammy-winning trumpeter ChrisBotti will be gracing the stage
of the Mayo Performing ArtsCenter this April.
For nearly three decades now,bode has been one of the most
popular instrumentalists in theworld, boasting collaborations
(00:23):
with stars like Sting, PaulSimon, Barbara Streisand, Lady
Gaga, Frank Sinatra, AndreaBocelli and many more.
His most recent album, producedby David Foster and entitled
Volume 1, marks his debut albumwith Blue Note Records and
features such classics as MyFunny Valentine, Danny Boy, and
(00:46):
Bewitched, bothered, bewildered,some of which you might expect
to hear at his upcomingperformance.
While his concerts tend tosurprise audiences, you can
certainly expect to beentertained.
Today's episode finds Chris andI discussing his journey to
becoming a musician, tales fromthe stage, advice for future
performers and everything inbetween.
(01:07):
Take a listen.
Chris Botti (01:10):
Can I ask you a question?
Are you a musician, are you abackground?
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:15):
I am not a musician.
I am a writer, actor, director,so I know very little about
music, which we can kind of talkabout as I ask you questions
that may seem ridiculous to you.
Chris Botti (01:27):
Not at all Okay.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:28):
So in my research I had heard that you
had a special relationship tothe song my Funny Valentine by
Miles Davis.
Is that true?
Chris Botti (01:37):
Yeah Well, I had picked up the trumpet originally
because of a gentleman ontelevision who was the band
leader for the tonight show, docseverance, and who was the band
leader for johnny carson.
That kind of trumpet playing.
It's so admirable and sowonderful, uh.
But it's not as heartbreakingas when miles davis plays my
(01:57):
funny valentine.
And that's when I first heardmy funny valentine um delivered
sort of, so to speak, throughthrough Miles Davis's horn, and
that's what made me want tobecome a jazz musician.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:11):
Do you remember what age you were when
you first decided that?
Chris Botti (02:14):
11 or 12, something like that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:17):
I think that's fantastic.
I definitely did not know whatI wanted to do at 11 or 12.
Sometimes I still don't.
So there's that You've.
I mean, you've been working inthis field for a while now and
I'm wondering if you have anymoments that stand out to you,
something extremely positivethat happened to you on stage
that will stay with you for theend of time.
Chris Botti (02:39):
Well, so many of them, I mean my, you know, being
able to work with so many greatlegendary artists which I think
I've probably checked as manyboxes you can check and having
those big moments, so to speak.
But I think maybe myrelationship with Sting and his
kind of belief in me that aninstrument could cross over into
(03:02):
a popular music genre, a stampof approval sort of that was
cultivated over a few years ofbeing in this band and stuff
like that, I think that'sprobably the most fun.
I mean, I've guested and andgone out and done music with so
many different artists but whenwe get together on stage it's
pretty special.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:21):
I think that's fantastic.
I think I've heard you refer tohim as family in the past.
Does it feel?
Chris Botti (03:25):
that way.
Yeah, absolutely.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:27):
Well thankful for Sting, Thankful
that he introduced you to theworld.
I was going to ask you how youfeel about collaboration, since
there are visual artists whotend to work alone and really
appreciate that stamp ofindividualism, but in music you
tend to come together with aband.
And how does collaboration feelto you?
Chris Botti (03:48):
Well, I'm clearly sort of built my career on it.
My live in Boston, just the oneconcert that kind of really
helped me so much in 2008 or2009, and that had John Mayer,
steven Tyler, yo-yo Ma Sting,josh Groban all of them on that
show you know like ascollaborators, and it was
(04:10):
awesome.
I mean, that's the great thingabout music is being able to
like play with people that don'treally necessarily go into the
jazz world but you can kind offind a common ground because I
have a lot of respect for likereally sophisticated popular
music.
So that has been a great thingmotivating factor to collaborate
(04:30):
with people.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:31):
I tend to love the word jam session and I
don't know if that's only whenyou're practicing or if it
counts when you're up on stagein front of 30,000 people, but I
like the idea that it's just abunch of people having fun
together.
Chris Botti (04:44):
Well, I think it's like anything.
Whether it's tennis or golf orFormula One, there's rules that
maybe the audience isn't seeing.
You know.
So the jam session.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:54):
There are certain kind of you know
guideposts, but, for instance,it is much looser and freer
flowing communication than a popmusic show, that's for sure see
, this is how you can tell thatI'm not a musician, but I think
that, uh, music is, it's alanguage really all its own, and
(05:16):
there's an album that you have,and I'm I might be reaching to
make this tie-in, but you havean album called italia, and I
know that you used to live inItaly for a short period of time
and I'm wondering if that albumwas at all an act of cultural
reclamation or a part of alanguage learning journey.
Or maybe I'm just relating thatto myself, because that's the
(05:39):
point of my life.
Chris Botti (05:40):
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 theretogether uh, I grew up there for
first and second grade, myfather's italian and I thought,
well, this is it's.
It's very romantic for anamerican italian to like, oh,
italy, the home country, blahblah.
(06:01):
But being able to go there andthen 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, tofind a different path from my
music that sort of crosses intothat faux classical world and
the.
(06:21):
My relationship with bocelliand what he's done singing on my
Italian record and singing onmy later on albums impressions
is amazing.
He's been a great friend andand that's all because of the
Italy, blah, blah, blah, youknow hookup.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:38):
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 thedigital magic works, but you
also collaborated with DeanMartin, or Dean Martin's old
vocals.
Chris Botti (06:54):
Yeah, so between 1999 and 2009, I made most of my
records at Capitol Studios,capitol Records here in Los
Angeles, around very famousbuilding of the Beatles recorded
in a bunch of stuff.
So yeah, so Dean Martinrecorded his albums at Capitol.
(07:14):
And so from the years 1999 to2009, uh, I recorded my records
at Capitol Records and thepeople 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 vocalperformance, but everything else
would need to be replaced.
And so we went in with my bandand we kind of mapped out a
(07:38):
template against the old trackand it worked out great.
I mean, it's a moderntechnology sleight of hand, but
it's great.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:46):
I think that's so cool.
I am also Italian-American, soI have a really strong
connection to Dean Martin andthe Rat Pack in general, so I
think that's just a really coolthing that technology has
allowed us to do.
Yeah, I want to talk a littlebit about Volume 1, right,
because that's your latest album, and there's been about a what
(08:10):
a decade in between this albumand the last.
Chris Botti (08:13):
Thank you very much for pointing that out.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (08:16):
Well, why is that?
Can I ask?
Chris Botti (08:24):
that up.
Well, why is that, can I asksure?
Um, so the record business hasbeen changing, as we know, so
radically the shift from goingfrom 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 theAdele business.
It's great, I mean, so it's agood move for them personally.
However, we got, we leftColumbia and we had to do a deal
(08:45):
, and then COVID happened andeverything got delayed and the
lawyers and the blah, blah, blah, and so it just takes a little
bit longer than you think andall of a sudden you look up and
go oh my goodness, I've beentouring and doing all this stuff
and not making any records, butI used to make a record a year
when the record business waslike super happening.
So now people review your showwithin the first 30 minutes and
(09:08):
they're online and the promotersays are we going to have them
back or not?
And that's my job is to likemake sure the audience is happy
and we get asked back.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:19):
Wow, see, as somebody who isn't in the
music industry, there's a lotthat I don't know about how that
works and how it's changing.
So I do realize that theinternet has affected a lot of
our lives and that instantgratification that we all kind
of thrive on.
It's a little bit scarysometimes.
Chris Botti (09:37):
It's a little bit scary.
Thrive on it's a little bitscary.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:39):
Sometimes it's a little bit scary, but
that this new album is.
I believe David Foster is alsoa producer on this album.
Chris Botti (09:46):
He is the producer, yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:48):
Awesome, and you'll be touring with him
this coming summer.
Chris Botti (09:52):
Yeah, we're doing a duet show.
We did a couple of them lastyear in florida together.
Uh, we've been really goodfriends for a long time and so
so this is, uh, it's a great wayfor the audience to see like
the iconic pure popular musicproduction space then fill it
(10:15):
all up with like the catastropheof like jazz and sane uh
repartee back and forth, and Ithink the varying uh terrain
musically, uh for the audienceis really our best asset to show
the audience like all thesedifferent, like from you know,
whitney houston, to like crazymiles davis stuff that there is
(10:38):
a link of just good musiciansbehind you and and that's what
we keep our eye on, which isvery unique these days.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:48):
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'llbe using songs from Volume 1 in
that duet or not.
Chris Botti (10:59):
We do a few things from Volume 1, yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (11:01):
But I was looking through your song list
and my favorite song happens tobe on there Bewitched, bothered,
bewildered.
Chris Botti (11:08):
Oh well, great song , One of my absolute favorites.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (11:11):
Do you have any personal connection to
these stories?
I'm trying to avoid thequestion.
I love to ask which is what'syour favorite song Without
having these stories?
Chris Botti (11:27):
I'm trying to avoid the question I love to ask
which is what's your favoritesong, 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 Iplayed I'm not going to say who,
but, uh, I played someone downthe the aisle in 2011 at a very,
you know, celebrity fueled um,wedding party, um, and the
actual ceremony and at the endof the night, this woman comes
(11:48):
up to me and goes chris, yousounded great, we should do
something together, and it wasbarbara streisand.
But you, you don't think likethat's going to happen, like
that's such an la kind of momentwhere someone goes oh yeah, we
should do something together,and you're like huh, okay, sure.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (12:04):
Right Of all people.
Chris Botti (12:05):
And so a couple of years later my manager gets a
call, says Barbara wants to havea meeting.
And we went and had a meetingwith her and she doesn't have an
opening act.
What she has is in the middleof her show she brings me on and
we would she.
She has is in the middle of hershow, she brings me on, we
would, she and I would do fiveduets together and then she
would leave the stage and Iwould play a couple of my own
things and then she would comeback and sing.
(12:27):
Now, when she came back andsing every single night on that
tour she would sing bewitched,bothered and bewildered and it
was so impressive.
I mean, everything she sings isquite remarkable and iconic and
impressive.
I understand that.
But there's this vulnerabilityand tenderness that she sings
(12:47):
Bewitched.
That's so mesmerizing.
And I just said you know, msStreisand, I'm going to record
Bewitched, bothered, bewilderedsomeday and I'll secretly
dedicate it to you for yourgreat performances.
So that's my favorite song onthe Volume 1 record for that
reason.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:07):
I fully support that, as it is my
favorite song.
I have to agree with you.
There was something you said ina previous interview and I'm
(13:30):
going to misquote you, but Ibelieve it was something to the
effect of music makes youpresent and if you're not
present you will get hurt orembarrassed.
But I think that's such a Imean it's accurate in the sense
that it's very literal that ifyou mess up, if you're not
present, you will mess up in themoment and embarrass yourself.
But it's also veryphilosophical that we have to
live our lives in the presentmoment.
(13:52):
And the question there is howdo you feel about that now?
Chris Botti (13:58):
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 parenthoodparent.
Being a parent is being present.
A parent, um, and I, I, I thinkmusic is just one of those
(14:19):
things that keeps you grounded.
I mean, I've recently gotteninto racing cars and that can
make you present real quick aswell when you're on a track and
you're going some obnoxiousspeed, and so there's a lot of
things, or a few things, thatcan bring you into the present,
(14:39):
and I try to find things thatare good for that, if that makes
any sense.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:47):
It does.
No, I think that's an importantway to live because, as silly
as it sounds, so many of usforget to live in the present.
We're either stuck in the pastor wondering what is our future
going to be?
What's my five-year plan?
Chris Botti (15:00):
No kidding, you're so right, you're so right.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (15:04):
That's very tough, but you you had just
mentioned parenthood and Iguess I wanted to ask you if
were there any parents listeningnow of children who are
learning the trumpet, or ifthere are some children who are
listening who are learning thetrumpet, do you have any advice
for them, any words of wisdomfor someone learning to blow the
horn?
Chris Botti (15:24):
Well, you know, I think there's a weird thing that
happens with parents and kidsif they want to become musicians
.
So I think, like every parentis convinced their son or
daughter is going to be the nextPaul McCartney or whatever.
But when they come out of thepractice room at age 13, they
say I'm really going to move toNew York.
(15:44):
Then the parents are like wait,we want you to be a doctor or a
lawyer.
We don't want, we want you torun after Paul McCartney, like
that way.
So they want to have protecttheir kids.
So I think that the children,music people they have to like,
find the fire that burns withinthem to practice all those hours
(16:05):
.
And then they have to spend themajority of their teenage years
convincing their parents andtheir family that they haven't
lost their mind to go after thisthing.
And that's a really big thingto ask a young person and it's
very um courageous thing tostand there and say, even if
they don't want to do it, tostand there and say I want to do
(16:26):
this or I don't want to do this, and um, the dynamic between
the parent and the child is isput on a test here, you know,
because being a musician is nojoke, commitment wise, and so
you have to.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:40):
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 seenthe movie, but have you ever
seen the movie Selena with JLo?
Chris Botti (16:53):
Have not, is it good?
Well, I thought you were goingto say whiplash there for a
second.
But I was, I was bracing myself.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:59):
I actually still need to see whiplash.
The reason I brought up Selenais because there's a scene in
that movie where the, theyounger version of selena, talks
about how much she hatespractice.
She's in a band with her uhsiblings and they just hated
practice.
They grew up to love it,obviously, and it became their
career.
But I I wonder if you loved theinstrument so much that you
(17:22):
enjoyed every moment of practice, or if it was Well.
Chris Botti (17:25):
I'm not not enjoyed , but I never.
The kind of the isolation orpracticing, you know, wasn't
intimidating to me.
I really liked it and I hadreally good teachers at a very
young age.
So my mom instilled upon methis thing If you really admire
someone, just go up to them andask them if you can get a lesson
(17:46):
.
I would say this to any youngperson playing an instrument
whoever your favorite musiciansare, just go to their concert
and walk backstage.
I've done it when I was a kid.
I've done it, you know, likeyou just walk back, be nice to
someone, extend your hand, saywill you give me a lesson?
You'd be surprised how manypeople will say yes.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (18:06):
Has that happened to you before?
Have people asked you forlessons?
Chris Botti (18:09):
Of course, and I'm giving them lessons right after
the show, like, and because theyhear me say this stuff, and but
it's important to me to fuelthat energy and a young person
to think beyond the schoolthey're in or beyond the class
they're taking.
You got to think outside thebox and so you got to go to the
backstage door at some jazz clubor some orchestra and get to
(18:31):
meet your violin hero orwhatever.
I think that's important and itbrings the reality of being a
musician in front of a youngperson that says this is the
person that you're wanting to,you know, like, look up to.
So here they are, let thembestow little kind of you know,
some nuggets of information.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (18:51):
I think that is amazing advice.
Chris Botti (18:53):
Look up to these people that you are attempting
to emulate and just don't beafraid to approach them and, and
the most important thing, is toknow that the, the, the void
between you and them, while itmight be years or distance, it's
it's not as crazy out there asyou think and they're not as
(19:14):
unattainable and they're not, asyou know, imaginary.
You know, like so many of thetrumpet masters that I met when
I was a kid, that I looked up to.
If I would just ask them thisone question, would you have 15
minutes to like, talk to meabout, like, something?
All of them, 100% said yes.
It's very interesting that, andI think that that removes the
(19:38):
mystery of like.
You know, oh, I could never goup and ask XXX, some stuff, but
you can.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:44):
I think that's pivotal.
It's less so the lesson andmore so the encouragement that's
coming from someone who hassucceeded.
Chris Botti (19:54):
I think that's great.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:56):
We'll see how many kids come up to you
after your Mayo Pack performancenow, I'm intrigued'm intrigued
your parents.
How did your parents firstdecided this is what I'm going
to do with my life.
Chris Botti (20:07):
I'm going to be a trumpeter well, my parents
didn't decide, I decided.
Is that what you asked?
Gina Marie Rodriguez (20:13):
oh, no what.
How did they react to yourdecision?
Chris Botti (20:15):
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 heardMiles Davis play my Funny
Valentine, I said that's it, I'mgoing to be a musician.
So between the time I'm 12 to18, I would have to do
(20:36):
everything in my waking power tolike 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 forcollege.
And they were.
They totally knew there was notalking me out.
They didn't try to talk me outof it necessarily, but I was
just so gung ho this way therewas no plan B, there was no
(20:59):
fallback, nothing to go.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (21:01):
I think that's really important to have
parents who stand behind you aswell, and there are so many.
Chris Botti (21:07):
But they'll only stand behind you if you lead the
way.
Because I've met a lot of kidsand I'll say, like, what kind of
music do you like?
They're like, well, I reallylike all kinds of music.
You're not going to make itBecause, like, really, the ones
that make it have a singularperspective and a singular.
They love whatever it is.
(21:27):
They love it's a pearlman, orthey love hyphens, or they love
chopin, or they love miles davis, or they love john coltrane,
but they don't go well, I likejohn coltrane and britney spears
.
I'm not dissing on britneyspears, but what I'm saying is
that their, their focus isusually, um, really amped in one
(21:48):
direction and um and that'simportant for classical music
and jazz to flourish, it needsto be, uh, really practiced, and
passionately.
People need to give up a lot oftheir childhood to like get
good at it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:04):
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'ssomeone who not only plays the
flute, but she.
She then became a pop singerand I feel like those two things
are very separate, but she wasable to bring them together into
one unique art form.
(22:24):
Well, it's still two art forms,but she's made a career out of
it.
Chris Botti (22:28):
Singing is an art form, the flute is.
No, I'm kidding, that's atrumpet joke.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:35):
They're both.
Hey, you're talking to someonewho has zero breath control.
I can't walk up a flight ofstairs without getting winded,
so there's no way.
I could play a wind instrumentat all.
All right, my last question, Ipromise, is we're approaching
your performance at Mayo Pack.
What would you like to say toNew Jersey audiences who are
looking forward to seeing you?
Chris Botti (22:57):
So one of the main questions I get asked all the
time is like what should weexpect for your show coming up?
Blah, blah, blah, and.
And.
All I would say is like I'm abig U2 fan and if you purchase
tickets to see U2.
Guarantee, you're going tothink well, there's going to be
the four Irish gentlemen on thestage and they will perform
(23:21):
their songs to big screens andloud music and I'm going to dig
it.
Okay, that's not the case withme.
If you come see my show, thelast 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 intosomeone's life, either
(23:42):
headphones or in their car or intheir house while they're
cooking or hanging out.
Blah, blah, and and.
And if you're going toreduplicate one of my records,
if you can't do it live.
So when you do it live, youneed to like show off, like
muscle and and uh drama of ashow, and you need to have a
(24:03):
bunch of superstars on the stageto take the show in an arc that
goes like this up and down, andup and down, and up and down.
Okay, but on a record you wanteverything to be.
This is this beautiful tapestryof music, but my show
constantly is the same.
All the time people come andsaid I had no idea what to
expect, but now we're your fans.
(24:24):
This is now our 12th timeseeing you a lot, and that is
the best thing.
When people come see multipleshows and they say we had no
idea what to expect.
We thought it would be just aguy with a trumpet, but we see
now it's like a world-classtalent.
Rubik's Cube of an all-starband, and that makes me very
happy.
Rubik's Cube of an all-starband, and that makes me very
(24:44):
happy.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:45):
That was a long-winded answer no.
Chris Botti (24:46):
I think that was the best answer.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:47):
Sorry that was the best answer you could
have given me.
The wonderful Chris Botti andhis brilliant band will be
beguiling audiences at the MayoPerforming Arts Center in
Morristown, New Jersey, onSaturday, April 12th, at 8 pm.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
MayoArts.
org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe and
(25:10):
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by funds
(25:31):
from, the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, Gina Marie
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
and my thanks to Chris Botti forspeaking with me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
Jazz fans rejoice.
Grammy-winning trumpeter ChrisBotti will be gracing the stage
of the Mayo Performing ArtsCenter this April.
For nearly three decades now,bode has been one of the most
popular instrumentalists in theworld, boasting collaborations
(00:23):
with stars like Sting, PaulSimon, Barbara Streisand, Lady
Gaga, Frank Sinatra, AndreaBocelli and many more.
His most recent album, producedby David Foster and entitled
Volume 1, marks his debut albumwith Blue Note Records and
features such classics as MyFunny Valentine, Danny Boy, and
(00:46):
Bewitched, bothered, bewildered,some of which you might expect
to hear at his upcomingperformance.
While his concerts tend tosurprise audiences, you can
certainly expect to beentertained.
Today's episode finds Chris andI discussing his journey to
becoming a musician, tales fromthe stage, advice for future
performers and everything inbetween.
(01:07):
Take a listen.
Chris Botti (01:10):
Can I ask you a question?
Are you a musician, are you abackground?
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:15):
I am not a musician.
I am a writer, actor, director,so I know very little about
music, which we can kind of talkabout as I ask you questions
that may seem ridiculous to you.
Chris Botti (01:27):
Not at all Okay.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:28):
So in my research I had heard that you
had a special relationship tothe song my Funny Valentine by
Miles Davis.
Is that true?
Chris Botti (01:37):
Yeah Well, I had picked up the trumpet originally
because of a gentleman ontelevision who was the band
leader for the tonight show, docseverance, and who was the band
leader for johnny carson.
That kind of trumpet playing.
It's so admirable and sowonderful, uh.
But it's not as heartbreakingas when miles davis plays my
(01:57):
funny valentine.
And that's when I first heardmy funny valentine um delivered
sort of, so to speak, throughthrough Miles Davis's horn, and
that's what made me want tobecome a jazz musician.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:11):
Do you remember what age you were when
you first decided that?
Chris Botti (02:14):
11 or 12, something like that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:17):
I think that's fantastic.
I definitely did not know whatI wanted to do at 11 or 12.
Sometimes I still don't.
So there's that You've.
I mean, you've been working inthis field for a while now and
I'm wondering if you have anymoments that stand out to you,
something extremely positivethat happened to you on stage
that will stay with you for theend of time.
Chris Botti (02:39):
Well, so many of them, I mean my, you know, being
able to work with so many greatlegendary artists which I think
I've probably checked as manyboxes you can check and having
those big moments, so to speak.
But I think maybe myrelationship with Sting and his
kind of belief in me that aninstrument could cross over into
(03:02):
a popular music genre, a stampof approval sort of that was
cultivated over a few years ofbeing in this band and stuff
like that, I think that'sprobably the most fun.
I mean, I've guested and andgone out and done music with so
many different artists but whenwe get together on stage it's
pretty special.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:21):
I think that's fantastic.
I think I've heard you refer tohim as family in the past.
Does it feel?
Chris Botti (03:25):
that way.
Yeah, absolutely.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:27):
Well thankful for Sting, Thankful
that he introduced you to theworld.
I was going to ask you how youfeel about collaboration, since
there are visual artists whotend to work alone and really
appreciate that stamp ofindividualism, but in music you
tend to come together with aband.
And how does collaboration feelto you?
Chris Botti (03:48):
Well, I'm clearly sort of built my career on it.
My live in Boston, just the oneconcert that kind of really
helped me so much in 2008 or2009, and that had John Mayer,
steven Tyler, yo-yo Ma Sting,josh Groban all of them on that
show you know like ascollaborators, and it was
(04:10):
awesome.
I mean, that's the great thingabout music is being able to
like play with people that don'treally necessarily go into the
jazz world but you can kind offind a common ground because I
have a lot of respect for likereally sophisticated popular
music.
So that has been a great thingmotivating factor to collaborate
(04:30):
with people.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:31):
I tend to love the word jam session and I
don't know if that's only whenyou're practicing or if it
counts when you're up on stagein front of 30,000 people, but I
like the idea that it's just abunch of people having fun
together.
Chris Botti (04:44):
Well, I think it's like anything.
Whether it's tennis or golf orFormula One, there's rules that
maybe the audience isn't seeing.
You know.
So the jam session.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:54):
There are certain kind of you know
guideposts, but, for instance,it is much looser and freer
flowing communication than a popmusic show, that's for sure see
, this is how you can tell thatI'm not a musician, but I think
that, uh, music is, it's alanguage really all its own, and
(05:16):
there's an album that you have,and I'm I might be reaching to
make this tie-in, but you havean album called italia, and I
know that you used to live inItaly for a short period of time
and I'm wondering if that albumwas at all an act of cultural
reclamation or a part of alanguage learning journey.
Or maybe I'm just relating thatto myself, because that's the
(05:39):
point of my life.
Chris Botti (05:40):
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 theretogether uh, I grew up there for
first and second grade, myfather's italian and I thought,
well, this is it's.
It's very romantic for anamerican italian to like, oh,
italy, the home country, blahblah.
(06:01):
But being able to go there andthen 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, tofind a different path from my
music that sort of crosses intothat faux classical world and
the.
(06:21):
My relationship with bocelliand what he's done singing on my
Italian record and singing onmy later on albums impressions
is amazing.
He's been a great friend andand that's all because of the
Italy, blah, blah, blah, youknow hookup.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:38):
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 thedigital magic works, but you
also collaborated with DeanMartin, or Dean Martin's old
vocals.
Chris Botti (06:54):
Yeah, so between 1999 and 2009, I made most of my
records at Capitol Studios,capitol Records here in Los
Angeles, around very famousbuilding of the Beatles recorded
in a bunch of stuff.
So yeah, so Dean Martinrecorded his albums at Capitol.
(07:14):
And so from the years 1999 to2009, uh, I recorded my records
at Capitol Records and thepeople 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 vocalperformance, but everything else
would need to be replaced.
And so we went in with my bandand we kind of mapped out a
(07:38):
template against the old trackand it worked out great.
I mean, it's a moderntechnology sleight of hand, but
it's great.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:46):
I think that's so cool.
I am also Italian-American, soI have a really strong
connection to Dean Martin andthe Rat Pack in general, so I
think that's just a really coolthing that technology has
allowed us to do.
Yeah, I want to talk a littlebit about Volume 1, right,
because that's your latest album, and there's been about a what
(08:10):
a decade in between this albumand the last.
Chris Botti (08:13):
Thank you very much for pointing that out.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (08:16):
Well, why is that?
Can I ask?
Chris Botti (08:24):
that up.
Well, why is that, can I asksure?
Um, so the record business hasbeen changing, as we know, so
radically the shift from goingfrom 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 theAdele business.
It's great, I mean, so it's agood move for them personally.
However, we got, we leftColumbia and we had to do a deal
(08:45):
, and then COVID happened andeverything got delayed and the
lawyers and the blah, blah, blah, and so it just takes a little
bit longer than you think andall of a sudden you look up and
go oh my goodness, I've beentouring and doing all this stuff
and not making any records, butI used to make a record a year
when the record business waslike super happening.
So now people review your showwithin the first 30 minutes and
(09:08):
they're online and the promotersays are we going to have them
back or not?
And that's my job is to likemake sure the audience is happy
and we get asked back.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:19):
Wow, see, as somebody who isn't in the
music industry, there's a lotthat I don't know about how that
works and how it's changing.
So I do realize that theinternet has affected a lot of
our lives and that instantgratification that we all kind
of thrive on.
It's a little bit scarysometimes.
Chris Botti (09:37):
It's a little bit scary.
Thrive on it's a little bitscary.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:39):
Sometimes it's a little bit scary, but
that this new album is.
I believe David Foster is alsoa producer on this album.
Chris Botti (09:46):
He is the producer, yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:48):
Awesome, and you'll be touring with him
this coming summer.
Chris Botti (09:52):
Yeah, we're doing a duet show.
We did a couple of them lastyear in florida together.
Uh, we've been really goodfriends for a long time and so
so this is, uh, it's a great wayfor the audience to see like
the iconic pure popular musicproduction space then fill it
(10:15):
all up with like the catastropheof like jazz and sane uh
repartee back and forth, and Ithink the varying uh terrain
musically, uh for the audienceis really our best asset to show
the audience like all thesedifferent, like from you know,
whitney houston, to like crazymiles davis stuff that there is
(10:38):
a link of just good musiciansbehind you and and that's what
we keep our eye on, which isvery unique these days.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:48):
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'llbe using songs from Volume 1 in
that duet or not.
Chris Botti (10:59):
We do a few things from Volume 1, yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (11:01):
But I was looking through your song list
and my favorite song happens tobe on there Bewitched, bothered,
bewildered.
Chris Botti (11:08):
Oh well, great song , One of my absolute favorites.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (11:11):
Do you have any personal connection to
these stories?
I'm trying to avoid thequestion.
I love to ask which is what'syour favorite song Without
having these stories?
Chris Botti (11:27):
I'm trying to avoid the question I love to ask
which is what's your favoritesong, 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 Iplayed I'm not going to say who,
but, uh, I played someone downthe the aisle in 2011 at a very,
you know, celebrity fueled um,wedding party, um, and the
actual ceremony and at the endof the night, this woman comes
(11:48):
up to me and goes chris, yousounded great, we should do
something together, and it wasbarbara streisand.
But you, you don't think likethat's going to happen, like
that's such an la kind of momentwhere someone goes oh yeah, we
should do something together,and you're like huh, okay, sure.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (12:04):
Right Of all people.
Chris Botti (12:05):
And so a couple of years later my manager gets a
call, says Barbara wants to havea meeting.
And we went and had a meetingwith her and she doesn't have an
opening act.
What she has is in the middleof her show she brings me on and
we would she.
She has is in the middle of hershow, she brings me on, we
would, she and I would do fiveduets together and then she
would leave the stage and Iwould play a couple of my own
things and then she would comeback and sing.
(12:27):
Now, when she came back andsing every single night on that
tour she would sing bewitched,bothered and bewildered and it
was so impressive.
I mean, everything she sings isquite remarkable and iconic and
impressive.
I understand that.
But there's this vulnerabilityand tenderness that she sings
(12:47):
Bewitched.
That's so mesmerizing.
And I just said you know, msStreisand, I'm going to record
Bewitched, bothered, bewilderedsomeday and I'll secretly
dedicate it to you for yourgreat performances.
So that's my favorite song onthe Volume 1 record for that
reason.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:07):
I fully support that, as it is my
favorite song.
I have to agree with you.
There was something you said ina previous interview and I'm
(13:30):
going to misquote you, but Ibelieve it was something to the
effect of music makes youpresent and if you're not
present you will get hurt orembarrassed.
But I think that's such a Imean it's accurate in the sense
that it's very literal that ifyou mess up, if you're not
present, you will mess up in themoment and embarrass yourself.
But it's also veryphilosophical that we have to
live our lives in the presentmoment.
(13:52):
And the question there is howdo you feel about that now?
Chris Botti (13:58):
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 parenthoodparent.
Being a parent is being present.
A parent, um, and I, I, I thinkmusic is just one of those
(14:19):
things that keeps you grounded.
I mean, I've recently gotteninto racing cars and that can
make you present real quick aswell when you're on a track and
you're going some obnoxiousspeed, and so there's a lot of
things, or a few things, thatcan bring you into the present,
(14:39):
and I try to find things thatare good for that, if that makes
any sense.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:47):
It does.
No, I think that's an importantway to live because, as silly
as it sounds, so many of usforget to live in the present.
We're either stuck in the pastor wondering what is our future
going to be?
What's my five-year plan?
Chris Botti (15:00):
No kidding, you're so right, you're so right.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (15:04):
That's very tough, but you you had just
mentioned parenthood and Iguess I wanted to ask you if
were there any parents listeningnow of children who are
learning the trumpet, or ifthere are some children who are
listening who are learning thetrumpet, do you have any advice
for them, any words of wisdomfor someone learning to blow the
horn?
Chris Botti (15:24):
Well, you know, I think there's a weird thing that
happens with parents and kidsif they want to become musicians
.
So I think, like every parentis convinced their son or
daughter is going to be the nextPaul McCartney or whatever.
But when they come out of thepractice room at age 13, they
say I'm really going to move toNew York.
(15:44):
Then the parents are like wait,we want you to be a doctor or a
lawyer.
We don't want, we want you torun after Paul McCartney, like
that way.
So they want to have protecttheir kids.
So I think that the children,music people they have to like,
find the fire that burns withinthem to practice all those hours
(16:05):
.
And then they have to spend themajority of their teenage years
convincing their parents andtheir family that they haven't
lost their mind to go after thisthing.
And that's a really big thingto ask a young person and it's
very um courageous thing tostand there and say, even if
they don't want to do it, tostand there and say I want to do
(16:26):
this or I don't want to do this, and um, the dynamic between
the parent and the child is isput on a test here, you know,
because being a musician is nojoke, commitment wise, and so
you have to.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:40):
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 seenthe movie, but have you ever
seen the movie Selena with JLo?
Chris Botti (16:53):
Have not, is it good?
Well, I thought you were goingto say whiplash there for a
second.
But I was, I was bracing myself.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:59):
I actually still need to see whiplash.
The reason I brought up Selenais because there's a scene in
that movie where the, theyounger version of selena, talks
about how much she hatespractice.
She's in a band with her uhsiblings and they just hated
practice.
They grew up to love it,obviously, and it became their
career.
But I I wonder if you loved theinstrument so much that you
(17:22):
enjoyed every moment of practice, or if it was Well.
Chris Botti (17:25):
I'm not not enjoyed , but I never.
The kind of the isolation orpracticing, you know, wasn't
intimidating to me.
I really liked it and I hadreally good teachers at a very
young age.
So my mom instilled upon methis thing If you really admire
someone, just go up to them andask them if you can get a lesson
(17:46):
.
I would say this to any youngperson playing an instrument
whoever your favorite musiciansare, just go to their concert
and walk backstage.
I've done it when I was a kid.
I've done it, you know, likeyou just walk back, be nice to
someone, extend your hand, saywill you give me a lesson?
You'd be surprised how manypeople will say yes.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (18:06):
Has that happened to you before?
Have people asked you forlessons?
Chris Botti (18:09):
Of course, and I'm giving them lessons right after
the show, like, and because theyhear me say this stuff, and but
it's important to me to fuelthat energy and a young person
to think beyond the schoolthey're in or beyond the class
they're taking.
You got to think outside thebox and so you got to go to the
backstage door at some jazz clubor some orchestra and get to
(18:31):
meet your violin hero orwhatever.
I think that's important and itbrings the reality of being a
musician in front of a youngperson that says this is the
person that you're wanting to,you know, like, look up to.
So here they are, let thembestow little kind of you know,
some nuggets of information.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (18:51):
I think that is amazing advice.
Chris Botti (18:53):
Look up to these people that you are attempting
to emulate and just don't beafraid to approach them and, and
the most important thing, is toknow that the, the, the void
between you and them, while itmight be years or distance, it's
it's not as crazy out there asyou think and they're not as
(19:14):
unattainable and they're not, asyou know, imaginary.
You know, like so many of thetrumpet masters that I met when
I was a kid, that I looked up to.
If I would just ask them thisone question, would you have 15
minutes to like, talk to meabout, like, something?
All of them, 100% said yes.
It's very interesting that, andI think that that removes the
(19:38):
mystery of like.
You know, oh, I could never goup and ask XXX, some stuff, but
you can.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:44):
I think that's pivotal.
It's less so the lesson andmore so the encouragement that's
coming from someone who hassucceeded.
Chris Botti (19:54):
I think that's great.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:56):
We'll see how many kids come up to you
after your Mayo Pack performancenow, I'm intrigued'm intrigued
your parents.
How did your parents firstdecided this is what I'm going
to do with my life.
Chris Botti (20:07):
I'm going to be a trumpeter well, my parents
didn't decide, I decided.
Is that what you asked?
Gina Marie Rodriguez (20:13):
oh, no what.
How did they react to yourdecision?
Chris Botti (20:15):
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 heardMiles Davis play my Funny
Valentine, I said that's it, I'mgoing to be a musician.
So between the time I'm 12 to18, I would have to do
(20:36):
everything in my waking power tolike 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 forcollege.
And they were.
They totally knew there was notalking me out.
They didn't try to talk me outof it necessarily, but I was
just so gung ho this way therewas no plan B, there was no
(20:59):
fallback, nothing to go.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (21:01):
I think that's really important to have
parents who stand behind you aswell, and there are so many.
Chris Botti (21:07):
But they'll only stand behind you if you lead the
way.
Because I've met a lot of kidsand I'll say, like, what kind of
music do you like?
They're like, well, I reallylike all kinds of music.
You're not going to make itBecause, like, really, the ones
that make it have a singularperspective and a singular.
They love whatever it is.
(21:27):
They love it's a pearlman, orthey love hyphens, or they love
chopin, or they love miles davis, or they love john coltrane,
but they don't go well, I likejohn coltrane and britney spears
.
I'm not dissing on britneyspears, but what I'm saying is
that their, their focus isusually, um, really amped in one
(21:48):
direction and um and that'simportant for classical music
and jazz to flourish, it needsto be, uh, really practiced, and
passionately.
People need to give up a lot oftheir childhood to like get
good at it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:04):
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'ssomeone who not only plays the
flute, but she.
She then became a pop singerand I feel like those two things
are very separate, but she wasable to bring them together into
one unique art form.
(22:24):
Well, it's still two art forms,but she's made a career out of
it.
Chris Botti (22:28):
Singing is an art form, the flute is.
No, I'm kidding, that's atrumpet joke.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:35):
They're both.
Hey, you're talking to someonewho has zero breath control.
I can't walk up a flight ofstairs without getting winded,
so there's no way.
I could play a wind instrumentat all.
All right, my last question, Ipromise, is we're approaching
your performance at Mayo Pack.
What would you like to say toNew Jersey audiences who are
looking forward to seeing you?
Chris Botti (22:57):
So one of the main questions I get asked all the
time is like what should weexpect for your show coming up?
Blah, blah, blah, and.
And.
All I would say is like I'm abig U2 fan and if you purchase
tickets to see U2.
Guarantee, you're going tothink well, there's going to be
the four Irish gentlemen on thestage and they will perform
(23:21):
their songs to big screens andloud music and I'm going to dig
it.
Okay, that's not the case withme.
If you come see my show, thelast 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 intosomeone's life, either
(23:42):
headphones or in their car or intheir house while they're
cooking or hanging out.
Blah, blah, and and.
And if you're going toreduplicate one of my records,
if you can't do it live.
So when you do it live, youneed to like show off, like
muscle and and uh drama of ashow, and you need to have a
(24:03):
bunch of superstars on the stageto take the show in an arc that
goes like this up and down, andup and down, and up and down.
Okay, but on a record you wanteverything to be.
This is this beautiful tapestryof music, but my show
constantly is the same.
All the time people come andsaid I had no idea what to
expect, but now we're your fans.
(24:24):
This is now our 12th timeseeing you a lot, and that is
the best thing.
When people come see multipleshows and they say we had no
idea what to expect.
We thought it would be just aguy with a trumpet, but we see
now it's like a world-classtalent.
Rubik's Cube of an all-starband, and that makes me very
happy.
Rubik's Cube of an all-starband, and that makes me very
(24:44):
happy.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:45):
That was a long-winded answer no.
Chris Botti (24:46):
I think that was the best answer.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:47):
Sorry that was the best answer you could
have given me.
The wonderful Chris Botti andhis brilliant band will be
beguiling audiences at the MayoPerforming Arts Center in
Morristown, New Jersey, onSaturday, April 12th, at 8 pm.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
MayoArts.
org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe and
(25:10):
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by funds
(25:31):
from, the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, Gina Marie
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
and my thanks to Chris Botti forspeaking with me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
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