Top-ranked US jazz trumpeter dazzles

Chris Botti (Photo from Chrisbotti.com)

Radio High 105.9 FM hit the ground running at its formal launch Friday night with an exhilarating show featuring American trumpeter Chris Botti at Greenbelt 5’s Fashion Walk grounds.

Performing with a crack quartet composed of pianist Andy Ezrin, bassist Carlos Puerto, drummer Billy Kilson and guitarist Mark Whitfield, Botti played music that coaxed the audience to get back in touch with the purity of emotions and the freedom of imagination.

The band’s version of “When I Fall in Love” recalled the nervousness and gentle ways of young romance, but Botti shifted gears and let loose some cascading notes that captured the excitement, or the recklessness, of spending time with one’s paramour.

“Venice,” an original track from his 2007 “Italia” album, cruised at a meditative pace—its soft, swaying tones as soothing as a scene of lovers onboard a gondola.

Botti showcased his affinity with classical music when he called in guest violinist Yelena Yegoryan from Armenia to join him on “Emmanuelle” from his “Live in Boston” DVD.

Arresting presence

Gifted as well with the skills of a program host, Botti proceeded to reveal his influences by way of Miles Davis’ “Flamenco Sketches.” The track served as a canvass for each band member to “paint” his own impression of the inventiveness that jazz allows. Whitfield was particularly dramatic—his face and body reacting to the yearning notes flowing out of his custom-made red hollow-body axe.

But we weren’t quite prepared for the appearance of guest vocalist Lisa Fischer, the Grammy-winning, sought-after backup singer for such bands as The Rolling Stones. She deconstructed “The Look of Love” with a ballad-like overture from the second stanza, followed by Botti and the band lurking in a slow buildup that burst in an engaging R&B/funk interplay.

Fischer was an arresting presence even as she played it low-key on “The Very Thought of You.” Her vocals on “Italia,” accompanied by Yegoryan’s weeping passages, was aptly mournful.

We had a ball on the last number, whose title we promptly forgot as soon as the action got going: Kilson stepping on the rhythm with an avalanche of rolling and syncopated beats that was jaw-dropping in its speed and dexterity. At certain moments it seemed like we were watching him on fast-forward mode although he was still in perfect sync. Indeed he’s one “badass” drummer, as Botti said, quoting Sting.

The encore, an instrumental take on “Nessun Dorma,” gave Botti the chance to call on anyone game enough to jam on percussion. People in the middle rows pointed to Gary Valenciano, who made his way to the drum kit looking like a bashful high school kid. When his moment came toward the song’s end, he and two band members hit the skins with an intense rumble that matched the sound of a timpani.

Botti should come here more often. We hope Radio High’s honcho Francis Lumen keeps the airwaves alive again with jazz and its crossover branches for as long as life itself.