Globe-trotting trumpet player Chris Botti makes Spokane stop for benefit concert

Grammy Award-winning trumpet player Chris Botti will perform a benefit concert for the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint as he continues to embark on the “24-year-long world tour” a younger version of himself could only dream of.

While countless children aspire to be great athletes, flipping channels to watch legends like Michael Jordan, a young Botti scoured the television until he found trumpet player Doc Severinsen lead “The Tonight Show” Band on air with Johnny Carson. His father soon bought him a cornet (very similar to a trumpet) and found enjoyment in the instrument, but it was hearing the great Miles Davis that put the music into perspective.

“I heard Miles Davis play ‘My Funny Valentine’ on the record, and there was kind of a shift, it went from something that was fun and glamorous like the Doc style of playing to something that was more brooding and intimate like Miles,” Botti said. “It connected with me on an intimate level, saying to myself that I wanted to be a trumpet player for the rest of my life.”

Botti discovered a deeper understanding of the instrument and an almost indescribable sense of connection to the notes and scales that show their first signs of life in the lungs.

“Because the human breath is moving through the instrument, there’s an identifiable musical thumbprint, almost, that is easier to get to,” Botti said. “Anyone can go up to a piano and hit that middle C, but on a trumpet or a violin that middle C can be your sound.

“It’s hard to verbalize what that all means, but there’s an immediacy to transmitting your personality or flavor of your sound through one note quite quickly.”

Botti spent the rest of his youth insisting he would move to New York to be a musician, despite concern from his parents.

“A lot of parents are convinced that their kid is going to be Paul McCartney when they’re 8 or 9,” Botti said. “But when they actually come out of the practice room and say, ‘Mom I’m going to move to New York,’ they’re all like, ‘Well, maybe you should be a doctor or a lawyer.’”

Fast-forward to the present, and Botti is preparing to tackle another month on the road after spending June performing multiple times in Japan, China, Australia and the United States. Considering he has spent 24 years on the road for about 250 days out of the year, such an intensive schedule isn’t new.

To stay prepared and ready to perform at his high personal standards night after night, Botti practices extensively every day. He likens this routine to that of a ballet dancer consistently practicing to remain flexible, balanced and keeping even the smallest muscle ready to perform.

“A lot of people go, ‘Chris you must have amazing lung power,’ but really you’re trying to contract and make the airstream as sophisticated and as small of an aperture as possible to get the air through with the most amount of control,” Botti said. “And then you need to know the vocabulary of jazz or whatever you’re playing to speak the language of that genre to be able to impart emotions onto an audience.”

Botti’s performances range from jazz to popular hits featuring a hand-selected band.

With so much musical skill and improvisational ability, each night provides a different experience for both the audience and musicians.

“There’s the melody and whoever’s got the melody at the time plays it their way,” Botti said. “If we have a different piano player from one night to the next night, the band’s going to sound quite a bit different because of the way that person interprets harmony and compliments the other musicians.”

Although the long flights, homesickness and grueling hours can take a toll, Botti reminds himself that this lifestyle is what he once dreamed of. The ability to play trumpet at this level and perform so consistently is a rarity, and something he refuses to take for granted.

“When I was 7 or 8, if I would’ve written my wildest fantasy on a piece of paper of what I wanted my career to become, I would’ve fallen way short of what actually happened,” Botti said. “It’s kind of a mind-altering sense of joy and gratefulness.”

When Botti performs at the Fox Theater on Saturday, he will be raising money for the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint. The show will directly benefit the North Idaho program through scholarships, educational programs and other opportunities for the next generation of musicians.

“Young people are up against a lot of things that are pulling away their attention span, you know the internet, TikTok, Instagram and all that stuff,” Botti said. “I think that the dedication and the discipline you get from learning an instrument … will radically help a kid in whatever they want to do.”