Chris Botti's 12th annual holiday residency at the Blue Note Jazz Club has become its own little tradition over time. “We've been coming here for the past five years!” confirms a man seated in front of me at the end of the concert, a wide smile on his lips and stars in his eyes.
At the historic sit-down
venue of the Blue Note in New York City, Chris Botti is
wearing the usual black tie and suit. Yet the world-renowned
trumpeter interacts constantly with the audience throughout the
evening. It is the kind of good-natured vibe that comes with habit:
as Botti says himself, “coming to the Blue Note for as many
years as I've been is like coming home.” This year's residency runs
from December 12, 2016 to January 8, 2017.
He starts off smoothly
with the quiet 'Gabriel's Oboe',
accompanied by the talented
Sandy Cameron at
the violin, and Ben
Stivers
giving a string ensemble-like background on the keyboards,
reminiscent of 90s Italian pop music. Next comes 'Concierto
De Aranjuez' (or
'En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor'),
continuing in the same vibe emphasizing atmosphere over technique –
with a Latin touch by
Ben Butler
on the guitar.
Next, their performance of
the upbeat 'Regroovable' from
the album Midnight Without You, has an electric guitar
kick and Geoffrey Keezer on the piano. The band experiments on
some more modern jazz elements and deconstructed melodies, before
going back to the comfortable happy atmosphere of the beginning. The
audience is getting really hyped and starts clapping their hands –
Keezer and
drummer Lee Pearson
work very well together and daze everyone with their deadly
precision, like two perfectly coordinated dancers.
After
a break where Chris introduces the musicians, they move on to the
quieter, more romantic 'Emmanuel',
from
his 2009 live album Chris
Botti in Boston.
Violin take-offs, crescendos and decrescendos, as well as the
keyboard background all give that 90s romantic Italian feel again.
'You
Don't Know What Love Is' definitely
has a more jazz standard sound, with a chilled double bass
accompaniment by Richie
Goods.
Slow changes of moods occur against the album version, a little 'Salt
Peanuts' reference
makes its way out there, and the drum base becomes a little more
fast-paced. Pearson
is
now definitely the mood-maker here, people gasping at his spectacular
gestures like hitting the bass drum from the other side of the drum
set.
Then
came the time of all-time favourite 'My
Funny Valentine', without
a clear beat and yet the trumpet and piano always knowing exactly
where they are. Then they played 'Hallelujah'
in the memory of late composer and interpreter Leonard Cohen, who
passed away this year. Botti
used
the mute on this one, and the whole rendering of this track was very
well done, delicate and dreamy, a very good and proper way to say
farewell.
After
another short break,
Pearson
gives a 5 to 10-min solo, which is definitely one of the big
highlights of the night. It is the kind of improvisation that can
appeal even to people who usually don't like drum solos – like
myself. He gives
such an inspired, varied, original solo, yet structured and always
with a regular beat. He slowly works his way back and forth between
different styles, different rhythms and different tools – hands,
sticks, mallets... Once again, the audience is hypnotized by his
performance and energy.
Two
singers also made their way to the scene during the second part of
the concert: vocalist Sy
Smith first
enters from the side of the room, joining Botti
playing among the audience for 'The
Very Thought of You' and
'The Look of
Love'.
She sings with a laser-like precision, and improvises on jazz as
easily as you and I are breathing.
It is Sandy Cameron's
turn to shine alone: she begins a solo with dark, almost
medieval undertones – she sounds like a devilish bee, and sure
enough she ends up quoting Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's
'Flight of the Bumblebee'. Only
in her twenties, she has a very strong stage presence. The rest of
the band finally joins for
a unique rendering of Led Zeppelin's
'Kashmir',
spreading quite an intense mood on stage - see video below.
Now, it's time for a
change of tone with tenor Rafael Moras
from the LA Opera,
joining on Francesco
Sartori's famous
'Time
to Say Goodbye (Con Te Partirò)'
; as
well as the classic
'Nessun Dorma'
by Giacomo Puccini. This is all ear candy for the audience.
Then
comes the grand finale featuring Sy
Smith again:
Al Green's 1972 'Let's
Stay Together', hyping
up the room one last time, with electric guitar, dramatic lighting
and so on, ending the whole show with a bang. The public is obviously
pleased: mission accomplished, they'll all have a merry Christmas.
Setlist:
- Gabriel's Oboe
- Concierto De Aranjuez
- When I Fall in Love
- Emmanuel
- You Don't Know What Love is
- Hallelujah
- Tango Suite
- For All We Know
- The Very Thought of You
- The Look of Love
- Kashmir (Violin Solo)
- Nessun Dorma
- Time to Say Goodbye
- Regroovable
- Let's Stay Together
