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| New Edition of Chris Botti's Album, 'December' Columbia Records is releasing a new edition, featuring four newly-recorded tracks and two brand-new songs, of Chris Botti's best-selling seasonal album, "December, " on Tuesday, October 10. Produced by Bobby Colomby, the yuletide 2006 edition of "December" premieres two new songs: a breathtaking interpretation of Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria, " featuring the Orchestra of St. John's Choir, and "I Don't Really Want Much For Christmas" (featuring Eric Benet). The newly expanded edition of "December" also debuts new versions of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "Silent Night." "Chris Botti Live With Orchestra & Special Guests, " shot December 1 and 2, 2005, over a Thursday - Friday run at LA's fabled Wilshire Theatre, inspired the Los Angeles Times music critic Don Heckman to write, "It was apparent, from the first notes Chris Botti played at the Wilshire Theatre on Friday, that the sold-out house was in for a special evening ... Botti's latest album, 'To Love Again' -- as well as the previously released 'When I Fall In Love' -- features extraordinary lineups of vocal guest artists. Six showed up for the concert -- Sting, Jill Scott, Paula Cole, Renee Olstead, Paul Buchanan and Gladys Knight -- along with Burt Bacharach ... despite the inevitable audience excitement generated by the appearance of such vocal headliners and despite the artists' diversity of interpretations, it was Botti's virtuosic trumpet work, his inventive melody-making, his engaging onstage presence and his powerful band ... that ruled the evening ... " Chris Botti has been steadily developing a reputation as one of the nation's most compelling jazz artists. In a review of Botti's performance at the JVC Jazz Festival show at Carnegie Hall, The New York Times wrote, " the blond, dapper Mr. Botti, from Portland, Ore., belongs to a long line of trumpeters who are also popular entertainers. His recent album, 'To Love Again' (Columbia), features ... trumpet-and-voice collaborations with Sting, Michael Buble, Jill Scott and (in the most unlikely team-up) Steven Tyler. Mr. Botti ... and his band, whose main man, the pianist Billy Childs, alternated between synthesizer and acoustic piano, performed sprawling, echo-heavy arrangements of songs ranging from Leonard Cohen's 'Thousand Kisses' to 'Flamenco Sketches' from (Miles) Davis's 'Kind of Blue, ' the classic record that started it all." write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |