OK, I will admit it up front. I am a Chris Botti fan. I first heard his music several years ago but didn’t get pulled into his music until the release of the Chris Botti: Live With Orchestra and Special Guests on Blu-ray back in 2007. That release featured top flight musicianship and excellent audio although the video was a bit disappointing. Even though it was clear from the outset that Mr. Botti had total control over his instrument, I was struck by the incredible tone he was able to generate on his instrument on that BD release.

I had the pleasure of seeing him open for Diana Krall last summer and was similarly impressed by the tone of his trumpet that night in Atlantic City as well. For those of you that think of Chris Botti as a lite jazz artist, see him live, I think you will change you mind. When I heard that a new Blu-ray concert disc was being released featuring Chris and his band, I was anxiously waiting to see if they could improve on the prior release. I am pleased to report that they have.

Concert

Chris Botti: Live in Boston was recorded at Boston’s Symphony Hall on two nights, September 18 and 19, 2008. Chris was backed by the Boston Pops as well as his stellar band which on these nights included Billy Childs on piano, the incredible and acrobatic Billy Kilson on drums, Robert Hurst on bass and Mark Whitfield on guitar. All four are on the top of their game on this release.

As was the case with the Chris Botti: Live with Orchestra and Special Guests release, Chris Botti: Live in Boston is more than a Chris Botti concert as it features performances by several guests, not known for their jazz chops. Returning from the prior release is Sting, who is credited with launching Chris’ carrier as a soloist and headliner. On the prior release, Sting proved that he can’t really sing jazz standards all that well. However, on this release, he sticks to more familiar material with much better results. As was also the case on Chris Botti’s last live recording, the inclusion of the special guests is something of a hit and miss affair. My favorite of the collaborations is the performance of Cinema Paradiso with Yo Yo Ma which is simply phenomenal. I also really enjoyed Smile featuring Steven Tyler which he dedicated to his father. It was a very moving performance. Also near the top of the pecking order was a funky version of The Look of Love featuring Mark Whitfield’s cousin, Sy Smith on vocals. While she is a bit of an unknown, she may not be one for long after this release.  Honorable mention goes to the duet with Emmanuel featuring Lucia Micarelli on violin.

While the release has many high points, it had several flat ones as well. The first is American Idol runner up Katherine McPhee’s performance of I’ve Got You Under My Skin. While it features an excellent arrangement, Ms. McPhee’s voice is simply not up to the task, sounding thin and stilted in comparison. The same is true for John Mayer’s performance of Glad to Be Happy from Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours of the Mourning album. While Mr. Mayer has a much better voice than does Ms. McPhee, he to lacks the smoothness and ease required to pull these numbers off effectively. However, both Ms. McPhee and Mr. Mayer are to be commended for having the guts to branch out from their more familiar musical styles here and taking chances, especially fronting the Boston Pops in such an incredible venue.

While I am not a big Josh Groban fan, he more than holds his own on two numbers here, one being a duet with Sting on Sting’s Shape of My Heart. While I would have preferred a release featuring more straight ahead jazz and performances by Chris and his band without all the special guests, I can without hesitation recommend this release to fans of Chris Botti as well as those of you out there who are not familiar with his music. I have been lucky enough to have met Chris Botti and can attest to the fact that the warm and gracious performer you see on stage on this release is the same person you encounter off stage. I can’t say that I have ever encountered a more engaging personality. Give this release a look… I think you will be more than glad you did.

Video

While I had some issues with some serious noise on Chris Botti’s prior Blu-ray release, I am happy to report that the video on the Live in Boston release is a substantial improvement over the prior release. The release features exceptional video quality. The release features spot on color reproduction and deep and stable blacks. Clarity and detail are top notch as well. The lighting of this concert is top notch as well and captured incredibly well on this Blu-ray release.

On a large screen, you feel as though you have been transported inside Symphony Hall during the concert. Shadow detail is wonderfully presented here as well with not even a hint of black crush. The only fault I had with the video on this release is that some of the crowd shots taken from the stage lack the sharpness and detail of the rest of the concert. This is a small quibble to be sure but enough of a shortcoming to keep this release from having a perfect score, at least as far as the video is concerned. All in all, this is a great looking release and is one that will no doubt thrill fans of Chris Botti.

Audio

While I had some minor quibbles with the overall video quality, I have no reservations whatsoever about the 7.1 Dolby True HD track presented on this release. It is simply outstanding and the finest audio track I have ever heard of a live concert performance on any home video format. The special quality of this release is apparent as soon as you hear the opening notes on the trumpet during the opening track, Ave Maria, which is not the type of song that you would normally expect to open a jazz show. This recording captures the live sound in Symphony Hall with incredible fidelity, placing you in the hall during the show.

The surround speakers are used perfectly, capturing the hall ambiance, decay and reverberation faithfully. Bass is deep and tight. Transparency and imaging are beyond reproach, creating a sound field of incredible openness, width and depth. The sound of the orchestra is lush and full, just like an orchestra sounds in a live performance and importantly on this release, never drowns of Chris or his band. Dynamics are off the charts as well. Just listen to the band rock out on the second track When I fall in Love, with a deep and driving bass line and mesmerizing drum track. This is about as good as it gets.

Special Features

The extras are rather threadbare consisting of a behind the scenes featurette that shows the rehearsals for the show and interviews with Chris, his producer and fellow performers. The behind the scenes featurette is interesting in that it shows an incident that happened on the concert’s first night where an older man collapsed in the audience in the front rows during the John Mayer performance. Fortunately, the gentleman survived and is even featured during the featurette, apologizing for his mishap. Needless to say, this incident brought the show to a crashing halt.

In order to get things moving and get the crowd back in a happier frame of mind,  Chris Botti, Sting, Yo Yo Ma and Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller, came on stage and performed a very moving version of Sting’s Fragile as Sting and Chris Botti had done at Sting’s concert on 9/11 while Chris was playing in Sting’s band. In order to access this track, you will have to view the featurette. Unlike the rest of the featurette, the audio on Fragile is presented in Dolby True HD and sounds just as good as the main concert footage. The featurette even shows how Josh Groban lost his train of thought during his performance with Sting and stopped singing while the band continued to play. It is amazing that such an embarrassing moment was included on this release and is a testament to Chris Botti’s friendship with Josh Groban that is was. This extra is well worth a look for the performance of Fragile alone.

Final Thoughts

Chris Botti: Live in Boston captures Chris Botti and his band at their finest. The release features excellent video and one of the finest sounding concert recordings I have ever heard on any home video format. Whether you are fan or Chris Botti or not, please check out this release. You will be glad you did. Highly recommended.