Chris Botti

Chris Botti Bio

Chris Botti is an American composer and trumpeter born in Portland, Oregon on October 12, 1962. He started playing the trumpet at the age of 9 and chose to stick with it as a career at 12 years old. In 1981 he became a member of McDonald’s All American High School Jazz band and performed his first performance at Carnegie Hall with the band. While in college he studied with the jazz teacher David Baker, trumpeter Bill Adam, trumpeter Woody Shaw, and saxophonist George Coleman. In 1990 he started touring and recording with the singer and musician Paul Simon and also performed and recorded with the artists Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, and others. In 1995 he released his debut solo album titled First Wish and has since released the albums Midnight Without You, Slowing Down the World, Night Sessions, December, A Thousand Kisses Deep, When I Fall in Love, To Love Again: The Duets, Italia, and Impressions. A number of his albums were released with the label Columbia Records who signed him to the label in 2001. Throughout his career his music has been nominated for several Grammys and in 2013 he won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album for the album Impressions.