By the time Chris Botti settled into his hotel room for our morning Zoom call, he was already deep into one of the most demanding stretches of his career: 60 straight nights, two shows a night, spanning November through January. It’s a grueling schedule by any measure — but for Botti, the final stop made it all worthwhile.
Seattle’s Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley isn’t just another venue on the itinerary. It’s home.
“This will probably be our sixth or seventh year in a row,” Botti said, smiling, as he talked about the legendary club. “Jazz Alley is a beautiful room. It sounds great. But honestly, what outdoes everything is the staff and how welcome they make us feel.”
After a monthlong run in New York and a week in San Francisco, Seattle marks the final pause before the tour concludes on January 18. For Botti, it feels less like an ending and more like a homecoming. Over a 30-year career, he’s played Jazz Alley countless times — but in recent years, returning there has become tradition.
“There are a few legendary jazz clubs in America,” he says. “The Blue Note in New York, SFJAZZ in San Francisco, and Jazz Alley in Seattle. Those are the top three.”
A Northwest beginning
Though often associated with global stages and orchestral halls, Botti is unmistakably a product of the Pacific Northwest. Born in Portland and raised in Corvallis, he credits the region with shaping both his discipline and his musical identity.
“The Northwest is amazing — not just for the beauty, which everyone talks about — but because it doesn’t have all the distractions of a major city,” he said. “I spent a lot of my childhood practicing trumpet, and I’m very grateful for that.”
That focus led him, somewhat unconventionally, to Mount Hood Community College — though not as a traditional student. At the urging of his beloved high school band director, Bob Ernst, Botti relocated to Portland during his senior year of high school so he could play jazz clubs at night while performing in Mount Hood’s big band.
“It was kind of a scam,” he said with a laugh. “I wasn’t actually a college student. I was a high school student playing in the big band.”
The gamble paid off. Performing alongside drummer Ron Steen, Botti found himself on the massive Mount Hood Jazz Festival stage in the early 1980s, playing for thousands while still in his teens.
“That was a huge lesson for me, playing in front of that many people at 16, 17 years old,” he recalled. “Those experiences really cut my teeth.”
From side man to center stage
Botti’s career would later place him alongside some of the most iconic names in music — Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand, Yo-Yo Ma — but no relationship proved more pivotal than his time with Sting.
“I was in Sting’s band for three straight years,” Botti said. “I was actually preparing for another two-year tour when he fired me.”
It wasn’t cruelty, though — it was mentorship.
“He told me, ‘Chris, now is your time. You’re either going to do it or you’re not.’ He fired me… and then made me his opening act.”
Night after night, Botti walked onto stages filled with 20,000 people — many of whom weren’t jazz fans — armed with a promise from Sting that still resonates decades later.
“He said, ‘I’ll break the sound of your trumpet to them. I’ll make them your fans.’ And he did.”
Collaboration, with intention
Given a résumé filled with A-listers — from Streisand and Bette Midler to Bocelli and Bublé — it’s no surprise that Botti approaches collaboration with care.
“At this point in my career, collaboration has to come from friendship first,” he said. “If it’s put together by a record company, it can feel like commerce instead of something genuine.”
That philosophy explains why Botti feels no urgency to chase trendy pairings.
“I’ve done so many collaborations. I feel very content with the people I’ve worked with,” he said. “Knowing someone personally matters to me more than anything else.”
What to expect at Jazz Alley
Trying to define a Chris Botti show, however, is another matter entirely.
“That’s probably been the most difficult thing to overcome in my career,” he admitted. “People sometimes think it’s just going to be a jazz show — or just me with a trumpet.”
Instead, audiences are treated to a carefully constructed arc: jazz at the foundation, stretching into classical, sophisticated pop, and beyond. The band itself is a handpicked ensemble of world-class musicians — no local pickups, no shortcuts.
“These are gunslingers,” Botti said. “An all-star band I’ve spent years assembling.”
The result is a show that evolves constantly. Fans regularly approach him after performances with a familiar refrain.
“People tell me, ‘This is my 17th time seeing you, and it’s different every time.’ That’s the greatest compliment.”
Coming full circle
As the conversation wound down, Botti returned to where it began: Seattle, Jazz Alley, and the joy of closing out an intense tour in a room that feels like family.
“We’re there January 14th through the 18th,” he said. “The food’s great, the sound is incredible, and the staff is amazing.”
Then, with the warmth that has carried him through decades of music-making, he added, “Most of all, I wish everyone a very happy holiday season and a great new year. We can’t wait to see you.”
For Chris Botti, coming home never gets old — it just sounds better every time.
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