Why is Jazz Trumpeter Chris Botti so Darn Popular?

Orchestra Hall will likely be packed when jazz-trumpet phenom Chris Botti takes the stage for two nights in December. The man has sold more than three million albums worldwide, several of his albums have risen to number one on the Billboard jazz charts, and he’s become one of the biggest concert draws in the world, performing more than 250 concerts a year.

But if you’ve never heard of Chris Botti, don’t be surprised. All it means is that: a) you’re probably a man, b) you don’t watch daytime television, and c) your iPod doesn’t contain a folder labeled “romantic.” To understand Botti’s ever-expanding popularity is to understand the power of daytime TV (Botti guest-starred on The Young and the Restless in 2005, playing at Michael and Lauren’s wedding, and led the house band for The Caroline Rhea Show) and the broad allure of the Botti Brand.

Botti is a fine musician, and even jazz aficionados will admit that he’s a cut above such smooth-jazz Muzak-makers as Kenny G or Richard Elliot. But there are lots of great horn players, and most of them do not land on People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People list (as Botti did in 2004), or get featured in a national ad campaign for Christian Brothers brandy. That’s the Botti Brand at work, and the product he sells is rooted in a kind of unabashed, love-struck sentimentality that’s simultaneously old-fashioned and daring. The songs he plays—“A Thousand Kisses Deep,” “When I Fall in Love,” “Back Into My Heart”—are the musical equivalent of a smartly written bodice-ripper (if such a thing exists), and his lush orchestral arrangements are like a warm, scented bubble bath with lots of candles and a glass of chardonnay poured for you by a man who looks like a Greek surfer god.

The Botti Brand also has an undeniable element of cool. He's played with Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Tyler, Jeff Lorber, Josh Groban, Paul Simon, John Mayer, and dozens of other top-tier artists, and these collaborations have helped seed the amazing cross-pollination of people who are passionate fans of Chris Botti. What other performer in the world can entrance both grandmothers and aspiring teenage jazz musicians? The former swoon over the image, the face, and the romantic warmth of his music; the latter fall for the rock-star quality Botti has given to an instrument and style normally relegated to basement jazz clubs.

Botti the musician is a skilled, hard-working mortal—a man you can admire. Botti the brand is Adonis with a trumpet in his hand—a fantasy you can fall in love with. Dec. 4–5. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-371-5656, minnesotaorchestra.org