Trumpeter Botti brings variety of guests, styles to jazz festival crowd at Burt

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This article was published 20/06/2018 (2136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Trumpeter extraordinaire Chris Botti gave Winnipeg’s jazz festival audience a little bit of everything on Wednesday night.

And everything was great.

Botti’s concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre hearkened back to the classic variety TV shows of yesteryear, when the host, whether it was a showbusiness type like Ed Sullivan or a popular musician like Johnny Cash, would introduce one great act after another from a vast array of genres, from Elvis to opera, with a few gentle laughs tossed in here and there for a change of pace.

A concert with Botti as the star ought to be enough, but the handsome 55-year-old blond— his hair is almost as golden as his trumpet — welcomed a pop singer, an opera tenor and a classical violinist to the stage during his two-hour show, He also gave plenty of room for his band, all of whom showed they have the ability and showmanship to keep up with the boss.

The guest stars began right off the bat when Botti was joined by violinist Erin Schreiber of the St. Louis Symphony for a pair of duets that showed how Botti beautiful tone fits into a variety of musical tone, not just jazz.

His five-piece band ratcheted things up after that, showing Botti’s mastery of modern jazz is equal to the sumptuous pop and classical sides that have helped him sell four million records worldwide.

Here, percussionist Lee Pearson was brightest, showing off the first of many creative solos, where he used every piece of the drum kit, including the stage floor, to dazzle the crowd.

Botti slowed things down with versions of Miles Davis’s famous Blue in Green — his use of the mute offered an excellent emotional moment — and Hallelujah, an interpretation that veered far away from Leonard Cohen’s overplayed original, unlike so many other less creative artists.

Schreiber returned to the stage for a classical solo that morphed into a short and spirited version of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir, a transition few in the crowd expected.

A final highlight had Botti tell the story of Italia, the 2007 song he co-wrote with Canadian producer David Foster. Foster said he could get Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli to sing it, and before Botti could say “Yeah, right,” the trio were in the studio together, creating a rare jazz/opera/pop hit.

Botti apologized that he couldn’t bring Bocelli onto the Burt stage on Wednesday, but he did bring American tenor Jonathan Johnson to sing the Bocelli part, and he was, in a word, fab. Only Bocelli himself might have got a bigger standing ovation from the crowd.

Botti closed the show, like a good host should, performing My Funny Valentine with pianist Eldar, whose fast-fingered Bach improvisation earlier in the evening proved the Kyrgyzstan emigre was worthy of being referred to only by his first name.

Alan.Small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @AlanDSmall