Trumpeter
Chris Botti's
To Love Again: The Duets picks up where his stellar 2004 release
When I Fall in Love leaves off, with more gorgeously lush and heartfelt orchestral
jazz via
the London Session Orchestra. This time showcasing guest vocalists -- as well as a handful of instrumental tracks --
Botti takes an even more classicist approach than before and once again brings to mind such iconic
jazz albums as
Clifford Brown with Strings and
Miles Davis'
Porgy and Bess. Largely known as a
smooth jazz artist with a sweet trumpet tone, it wasn't until
When I Fall in Love that
Botti dropped the
smooth jazz synthesizers and pop-oriented compositions in favor of
Gil Evans-style
jazz orchestrations and an acoustic backing quartet. Subsequently,
Botti made the best album of his career and didn't sacrifice any of his own laid-back
smooth jazz style. In fact, having long been compared to trumpeters
Chet Baker and
Miles Davis for both his minimalist improvisational style and matinee idol image, this move toward more straight-ahead
jazz is actually a better fit.
To Love Again does nothing if not reinforce this opinion and finds
Botti seeming even more relaxed and in his element. This is no more true than on the romantically melancholy lead-off track
"Embraceable You," which finds
Botti's horn weeping and sighing over the
George Gershwin standard. The same can be said of his work with
Sting on the '60s classic
"What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life." In fact, with such a phenomenal cadre of singers -- including
Michael Buble,
Paula Cole,
Gladys Knight and others performing such standards as
"Let There Be Love" and
"Lover Man" -- there really isn't a bad track. Part of the brilliance of the album is that, while it is classicist in tone, many of the vocalists come from the pop world and give the songs a contemporary spin that rubs nicely against
Gil Goldstein and
Jeremy Lubbock's stylishly old-school arrangements. It also doesn't hurt that
Botti is working with such phenomenal
jazz talents as pianist
Billy Childs, bassists
Robert Hurst and
Christian McBride, drummer
Billy Kilson, guitarist
Anthony Wilson and others. That alone makes the few instrumental tracks on
To Love Again some of the standout moments on an album as much about vocals as it is about
Botti's own creative "voice." ~ Matt Collar
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