Chris Botti tours China after first new album in a decade

When asked to name a song that has had a great influence on him, Grammy Award-winning trumpet virtuoso Chris Botti usually says My Funny Valentine.

Three years after he first learned to play the trumpet, Botti committed himself to it after hearing a recording of the song by his idol, Miles Davis.

Last October, Botti released Vol. 1, his first album in more than a decade and also his first with his new record company, Blue Note Records. He recorded a version of My Funny Valentine, along with his renditions of some of his favorite standards, including Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, Someday My Prince Will Come and Blue in Green. The new album allows him to share his enthusiasm for the jazz greats.

Botti and his ensemble, including drummer Lee Pearson, pianist Julian Pollack, violinist Anastasiia Mazurok and guitarist Leonardo Amuedo, launched a tour of China in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Wednesday. They will play in Zhengzhou, Henan province, on Friday, in Beijing on Saturday and Shanghai on Sunday. The tour features songs from the new album, including My Funny Valentine.

"The idea of recording it started my tour with Joshua Bell, a great violinist. We've been touring together for about seven years and we closed every evening with the song. We always said that we should record it someday, and we did it," says Botti, adding that the reason he loves Davis' version of My Funny Valentine is because he finds it beautiful and heartbreaking and it resonates with him.

"When I love a musician, I love the way they play their instrument. For example, in case of Yuja Wang, the tenderness she draws from her piano, the way it resonates in her hands, which are both very special to me," Botti says.

He has been recording albums since 1995, and says the music industry has changed a great deal as a result of social media.

"Every time we give a show, people post reviews even before it ends and before we leave the building, we already have bookings for the next year," he says.

As one of the most renowned instrumentalists in the world for nearly three decades, Botti has collaborated with some of top-level superstars, including Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, and Yo-Yo Ma. He tours about 270 days a year and never takes multiple days off.

"If I tour for 30 days, I will take a day off. It's a life commitment, which I began as a teenager," Botti says.

"Touring as a jazz musician is quite different from touring as a classical musician, who plays from a score. We create music in the moment, we improvise, allowing each member to shine onstage and at the same time, and present something to the audience that is unique," he says.

To remain at the top of his game, Botti practices for at least three hours a day.

"The trumpet doesn't care how successful you are. It will shut you down, and age will lessen the elasticity of your sound or the way your muscles work. I have to practice every day," he says.

Another thing that helps his trumpet skills is car racing, which he calls "a pretty intense addition".

Botti says that learning to drive a sports car is similar to learning to play an instrument. Both are about muscle memory and taking in lots of information. He raced for about a year.

"I used car racing as an addendum to my trumpet playing, and it kept me firing," he says.

In 2022, Botti turned 60, which he says felt like "a time that seemed like a restart for so many things in the world".

"I wanted to strip away all the orchestral arrangements and focus more on my playing, the playing of my band, and these jazz classics that we love playing onstage," he says, adding that he hopes to have his new albums, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 out soon.