Chris Botti

Grammy winning, virtuosic Italian-American trumpet player Chris Botti hails from Portland, Oregon. He has had four albums reach the top spot of the Billboard Jazz albums chart. Botti began to play the trumpet at the age of nine and was heavily influenced by Miles Davis. He practiced intensely and began playing in clubs at seventeen while still in school. He studied under trumpet legends such as David Baker, Bill Adam, and Woody Shaw. After leaving university early to play with Frank Sinatra and Buddy Rich, he moved to New York City to work as a session musician. He performed with iconic artists including Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Simon. His solo career flourished with a series of albums in the late 90s, often collaborating with Sting, a partnership he credits with changing his career. Since 2001, Botti has released a steady stream of chart-topping jazz albums.