"A passionate evening of instrumental storytelling…it was apparent from the first notes Chris Botti played at the Wilshire Theatre on Friday, that the sold-out house was in for a special evening." -Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

December 2005. Los Angeles, California. Trumpeter Chris Botti, on the heels of his break-through gold certified album"When I Fall In Love," and the record-breaking follow-up, "To Love Again," plays two triumphant shows at the Wilshire Theatre backed by a full orchestra and his virtuosic band. Playing repertoire mostly culled from these two hit albums, Chris is joined onstage by some of the world’s most accomplished singers and musicians (in order of appearance): Sting, Jill Scott, Paula Cole, Burt Bacharach, Renee Olstead, Paul Buchanan, and Gladys Knight. The show is filmed for the PBS special, "Chris Botti Live with orchestra & special guests…and this DVD.

DVD PROGRAM
1) Someone To Watch Over Me
2) When I Fall In Love
3) A Thousand Kisses Deep
4) What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?- featuring Sting
5) Good Morning Heartache- featuring Jill Scott
6) My One and Only Love- featuring Paula Cole
7) The Look Of Love- featuring Paula Cole and Burt Bacharach
8) Cinema Paradiso
9) Pennies From Heaven- featuring Renee Olstead
10) Are You Lonesome Tonight?- featuring Paul Buchanan
11) Lover Man- featuring Gladys Knight
12) My Funny Valentine- featuring Sting
13) Why Not
14) One For My Baby— BONUS not on original PBS broadcast
Jazz trumpeter Chris Botti is mostly exquisite on this concert DVD, which gives old fans and new arrivals a chance to hear him apply his rich, expressive playing to a number of old standards, as well as one or two of his own compositions. Botti, along with a remarkable band including Billy Childs on piano and Billy Kilson on drums, plays six numbers as instrumentals but is joined on eight other performances by a few guests. Sans vocals, Botti warms up a delighted audience with a nice, if slightly exercised, take on "Someone to Watch Over Me," but proves magnificent on "When I Fall In Love" and especially Leonard Cohen's "A Thousand Kisses Deep." Then out glides old pal Sting (who invited Botti to join his own touring band some years ago), who has a nice go at "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?", followed by jazz-blues belter Jill Scott's terrific "Good Morning Heartache." Less effective are two appearances by Paula Cole, of which the second, "The Look of Love," doesn't work particularly well for anyone, including Botti and composer-pianist Burt Bacharach (also onstage). Renee Olstead sizzles up the joint with her kittenish "Pennies from Heaven," and Sting returns for a comic if touching "My Funny Valentine." --Tom Keogh

Customer Rating:
Summary: Chris Botti Live is electric
Comment: I have only recently come to know about Chris Botti. This live DVD is INCREDIBLE. Though each of the guest performers was great to good (my favorite was Gladys Knight), Chris is electric ! To watch and hear a true master perform, as he does in this DVD, is magical to me. I have watched this several times and each time gets better. The best is when Chris performs alone with his band. Blu-ray is the only way to watch his wonderful show.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Get this Item!
Comment: If you like instrumental music and talented musicianship, this item is definitely for you. Chris Botti puts on a great performance with many other artists such as Burt Bacharach and Sting. The musical talent of all of the guest singers is phenomenal and I give them all two thumbs up. Furthermore, Botti and the gang create an atmosphere like no other video of its kind utilizing the orchestration within each song.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A trumpet is a funny thing somtimes
Comment: I really really really wanted to love this DVD. I've always had a thing for the great jazz trumpet players: Miles Davis, Jack Sheldon, Bobby Hackett, on down the line. But there were at least two, maybe more songs on this set that bothered me a bit. For instance "What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life?". Perhaps Legrand's best song. Although I liked the Sting vocal, I think Botti really needed a mute, (also, the drummer needed brushes). That's just my take on this song however.

I also didn't care for this version of Young's "When I Fall In Love". And how can the great Billy Childs (the pianist here) simply resort to some simple blues chords during his solo?

For my taste, overall, the program was a bit overproduced and not as lyric as an instrument like the trumpet might dictate. Botti has great chops, but I feel that he relies a little too much on certain musical cliches. My adivse to him is tone it down, emphasize the melody more, and learn when to use the mute. Also, maybe get a new drummer. But, hey, he's the guy rolling in dough right now, not me. Maybe I should listen to him?

I do have to applaud his appeal for parents to turn off Star Search and take their children to hear serious musicians, whether jazz or classical.

In all deference, if you are a fan of Botti and his albums, then this is probably going to be a great DVD for you.

If you are like me, a music lover (sometimes jazz) just encountering the music of Chris Botti, then you will have to make up your own mind. This is a serious musician I believe, and one well worth acquainting yourself with. Although the show didn't work entirely for me, it may do wonders for you.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Chris Botti has earned a new fan today.
Comment: Chris Botti has earned a new fan today. His style of music and the smooth vocals of his guests have filled a musical void I've been searching for for a while now. Chris Botti: Live With Orchestra and Special Guests is a marvelous show put on by a marvelous performer with marvelous guest appearances, and now the entire experience is a marvelous Blu-ray disc. Not only were the visuals of the show superb and exceptionally reproduced, but the music itself is at times mesmerizing, at other times relaxing, and at all times wholly delightful.I'll admit to never having heard of him before, but after screening this disc, his will not be a name I soon forget.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing.
Comment: If you're a mainstream Jazz fan wanting to experience the HD audio and video, you'd love this. Great show, amazing music and brilliant collaborations from guest artists. It's a big show, on a big venue by a bunch of big artists...

Perhaps "Chris Botti & Friends - Night Sessions (Live in Concert)" is a quite more intimate/relaxed performance given the atmosphere of the site and the reduced size of the venue, which brings the opportunity to choose between two different kind of shows, but none of them seems better than the other one.

They're just different.

Worth having.

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