Botti mixes music with showbiz
Chris Botti is a jazz trumpet player but, more importantly, he’s a showman. His sold-out show Saturday night in Kleinhans Music Hall probably ranked up there with the great vaudeville acts.
There is an art to show business, and Botti has it down.
His finest moment was when he talked about how the band had been playing a wedding in Tuscany and right when they were leaving, he saw his violinist taking a tumble and her hand went right through a wine glass. The doctors said she would never play again.
The crowd gasped. Buffalo is always the greatest audience.
Just as we were sighing over this tragedy, Botti said something like, “But after therapy and rehabilitation, she was able to play again! And we bring her out tonight!”
And as his violinist, Lucia Micarelli, walks out, the crowd goes nuts. How could you help it?
I do not want to suggest there was anything fake. Botti seems sincere, which is the gist of his charm. He can name-drop without being annoying.
The natty, handsome Botti knew perfectly how to keep things moving and the show rolled seamlessly along, swinging from laughter to tears. Ballads, beginning with an oddly lovely take on Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” alternated with up-tempo numbers. A quiet duet between Botti and his almost-doomed violinist would give way to a thundering drum solo.
To mix things up, Botti brought out not only the violinist but an excellent singer named Sy Smith who clapped and shimmied and shook it and sang scat with the trumpet. Botti fed us some story about this wild woman being the guitarist’s cousin. Who knows.
It all worked, is what was important.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, led by our new resident conductor Matthew Kraemer, was sadly underutilized. But perhaps it was a compliment to the show that you barely noticed. Impeccably rehearsed, Botti and his band — who included pianist Billy Childs, a known quantity — gave us numbers including “When I Fall in Love,” the ballad “Caruso” and, who would have guessed it, the love theme from “Shrek.”
Botti has a beautiful way of explaining music. Of Miles Davis’ “Flamenco Sketches,” he said it was only a handful of chord changes but: “When you walk to a chessboard it’s always the same, and then as you play the game, it’s always different.”
His tone was sweet and his long drawn-out notes made the audience scream. Childs has a nice less-is-more quality, high praise in the jazz piano world.
Drummer Billy Kilson got his moment in the sun, pouring out a witty, if lengthy, solo that made the audience laugh.
Concert Review
Buffalo Philharmonic
Orchestra
Pops concert with trumpet player Chris Botti,
Saturday evening in Kleinhans Music Hall.
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