CHRIS BOTTI
Grammy award-winning musician and composer Chris Botti is one of the world’s top jazz instrumentalists. He spends as many as 300 days of the year travelling and performing with his beloved trumpet. Maida Pineda caught up with the American musician during the Asian leg of his tour.
HOW’S THE TOUR GOING?
I’m currently in the middle of an eight-city tour of Japan, and I’m having such an amazing time. I believe this is my 13th trip to Japan. I’m always so excited to return to the wonderful people, the beautiful venues and incredible food.
DO YOU CHECK YOUR TRUMPET IN OR HAND-CARRY IT?
I always hand-carry my trumpet and have never run into any real problems while travelling. Sometimes, some of the airlines think the trumpet case is too large. But when I show them it fits underneath the seat, it’s OK. However, I always pay special attention to my trumpet when it’s in the overhead compartment. Once it’s in there, I spend the whole flight with one eye watching it just in case someone throws something on top of it.
WHERE DID YOU GO FOR YOUR LAST HOLIDAY?
It’s been a long time since I took a real vacation, but it was when I went to Tuscany and stayed with Sting at his house. Sting’s like family to me, so it’s always super nice and fun.
I HEAR THE FOUR SEASONS BEVERLY HILLS IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOTEL?
The staff are amazing! Even though I own a house in LA now, when I go there they still make me feel incredibly welcome. They’re just a great organisation. All the Four Seasons are, but especially the one in LA. It’s fantastic!
DO YOU GET COMPLAINTS WHEN PRACTISING IN A HOTEL ROOM?
The only complaints I get are when people come up to me and say: “We’re big fans of your music and we have the room next door to you but you’re never playing any of your songs, you’re always playing scales!” In all honesty, everyone is very nice.
WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE JAZZ CLUB IN THE WORLD?
Well, because we play there every year for three weeks in December, The Blue Note in New York is my favourite. It’s in the best city in the world, at the best time of year and we’ve done it for so long. We could easily go to another venue and play somewhere else, but I keep going back there because now it’s tradition and it’s a really, really fun show for us.
WHAT MAKES TIME GO FASTER FOR YOU WHEN FLYING?
That’s the only downside to travel – the hours don’t ever go by fast! One thing that helps is that I’m travelling with 10 people on the road, so you have your touring family with you and that’s kind of nice. It definitely takes away some of the boredom.
WHAT’S PLAYING ON YOUR IPOD?
I’m always listening to Miles Davis’s “My Funny Valentine”, Keith Jarrett’s “The Melody At Night, With You” and Frank Sinatra’s “Only the Lonely”.
ANY USEFUL APP WHEN TRAVELLING?
A chess app – I love playing chess online.
WHAT CAN’T YOU LEAVE HOME WITHOUT?
My noise-cancelling headphones from Bose are a must. Also, the nicest flight attendant in the world gave me a really great first class blanket from Qantas. So, believe it or not, those are the two items that I can’t live without.
