Trumpeter Botti entrances audience

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By David Burke | Monday, May 21, 2007 4:16 AM CDT | () comments

At about 10 minutes after 7 Sunday night, Chris Botti strode to the right-center of the RiverCenter/Adler Theatre stage.

As his trumpet got about a half-inch away from his mouth, he put the horn down.

“Somebody wanna get that?” he said of the bane of the 21st century live performer, the cell phone.

That kind of formality and nonchalance was a hallmark of the almost two-hour performance of the jazz-pop trumpeter and his four-man band in its concert at the Adler.

Botti, whose last two albums of standards have brought him a new audience, mixed those with some Miles Davis gems and some soundtrack successes, which entranced a small but responsive crowd of about 850.

His second song, the title track to his album, “When I Fall In Love,” segued from the pop standard to a flat-out, full-speed jazz riff by the time the tune was completed.

Likewise, a later tune went in the reverse direction, from pure jazz improvisation that landed to earth to become Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely?”

Botti, during several between-songs discussions, directed most of his conversation to Allie, a 15-year-old girl in the audience who played the piano and the flute.

“What are those handcuffs doing?” he asked, insinuating that her parents had to drag her to the concert. To Botti’s credit, there was a wide range of ages at his show.

While Botti got most of the face time during the show, he also had plenty of chances to step back and let his talented band take center stage.

Guitarist Mark Whitfield, drummer Billy Kilson, pianist Peter Martin and bass player James Genus (a 13-year veteran of the “Saturday Night Live” house band) each gave amazing performances, and their gentle and amusing interaction was very natural. Botti began one tune, but had to stop for his own laughter when Whitfield began a series of mini-calisthenics.

Vocalist Vivian Sessoms kept up the standard of quality with “The Look of Love” and “What’ll I Do,” as well as the Grammy-nominated “Good Morning Heartache.”

Several Leonard Cohen songs were performed by Botti, including the composer’s “Hallelujah,” which was used as the love theme for the first “Shrek” movie. The film theme followed, with the love theme from “Cinema Paradiso.”

Botti, who called himself “the most pale trumpeter player of all time” told the audience of his amazement at being asked to induct Davis into the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame, followed by a rendition of the late jazz great’s “My Funny Valentine” and “Indian Summer.”

The blend of pop standards and jazz greats, nonchalance and formality and written and spontaneous performances made it a winning night.

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.