In recent years, the music of trumpet player Chris Botti has been often heard in a variety of mediums.
In the 1990s, the popularity of cross-border music brought a large number of performers and singers from the classical music scene, including Chen Mei, a violinist who was once familiar to Chinese music fans. However, the popular crossover trend did not only blow into the classical music scene, many jazz musicians also began to switch to popular music. A large number of cross-border newcomers emerged in the 1990s, including Chris Porty, who was influenced by jazz since childhood and had a jazz playing career.
Chris Botti
At the beginning of this century, Botti already had a considerable reputation in the music world, and the author first came into contact with his works in 2005, when his music in China was far less widely disseminated than it is today. Like the countless crossover stars of that era and later, the idol temperament was an important reason for Boti's rapid popularity. But it is worth mentioning that Chris Porty has really changed and even subverted the habitual perception of trumpets in ordinary listeners.
It is no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of ordinary people's impression of the trumpet as an instrument is still limited to military bands and primary and secondary school pipe bands, and the trumpet does play a pivotal role in this type of group. But as a long-established brass instrument, the trumpet actually has a richer and more diverse artistic charm.
Older classical fans usually have albums by the iconic trumpet player Maurice André, while younger fans relish the two beautiful trumpet players active in the contemporary music scene, Alison Balsson and Tina Ting Hersese. Needless to say, even Balsson and Hersese, who are now popular in the classical music scene, have never really come out of the circle.
The same is true of jazz, whether it is Armstrong, Marsalis or even the famous "cold" prince Chate Baker, whose achievements in trumpet art are largely out of the ordinary people's listening range. The trumpet is still a trumpet, and it was not until the popularity of Chris Potty that many people realized that the trumpet not only emits a sound, but the trumpet can also be very soft, very confusing, very emotional - such as when it is added to some special attenuator.
Trumpet art has a long history
Poti's pop fusion winds have a strong smooth jazz flavor. Night Sessions and Thorn Kisses Deep, two of the most widely publicized classic albums, reveal Porty's musical style. Listeners can hear jazz trumpets that exude a strong urban psychedelic color. Especially in the "easter parade" where percussion is almost absent, the trumpet has a wanton and unbridled play, the unrestrained emotional release makes the piano and bass consciously hidden in the middle, and when the trumpet enters the high-pitched huacai, the trumpet dances in a faint accompaniment, leisurely in the world.
Stylistically, both albums are urban genres of smooth jazz, with dj-style percussive rhythms everywhere, with basses, drum kits, pianos, and synths appearing from time to time. Since there is not much novelty in the arrangement, after laying out the overall atmosphere, Botti's performance naturally becomes the soul of music.
Among the most widely circulated pieces, the simple and casual arrangement is far from some of the "stained" smooth jazz. Even in the more popular style of music, you can't hear kenny g's flamboyance and kitsch.
Botti is good at portraying the ambiguity and loneliness of the modern city. The melancholy and confused bleak mood, the slow and methodical rhythm swaying, the concise and generous improvisation, the moderate and gentle emotional release, this is the trumpet language created by Botti. This language is very different from the jazz trumpets of Armstrong and Marsalis.
The title song of night sessions, "lisa", the rhythm flows naturally, the melodic lines are soft and sensual, everything seems so ordinary, but it combines a different flavor from the general pop music. With the help of a muted voice, Botti played a popular melody with a slightly sweet jazz flavor, with just the right amount of phrase processing and breath control, while in tracks such as "All the World Envy", "You Move Me", "Light the Sky", "Easter Parade", "Stress Ahead", etc., Botti used the natural timbre of the trumpet.
Compared to the varied night sessions, the more uniform sound kisses seem to be more melodic. Tracks such as "a thousand kiss deep", "my funny valentine" and "love gets old" are highly popular. The originally chuchu and moving melodic lines are interpreted by Boti with a tossing and turning tone, and the pictures, memories and moods related to the city under the night immediately appear in front of the eyes. In the continuous shallow chanting, there is sometimes a gorgeous but convergent high-pitched release, introspective and exposed.
Botti's music is pan-popular, and he is certainly not as popular as kenny g, but today, when the latter has long disappeared, his music still appears in various media environments and is accepted by younger listeners.
There are always some connection points between the unpopular and the hot, which are open, hybrid, and not pure, as is the case with any thought, culture, and art form. This type of creator always needs a balance, there is always a mutual compromise between communication and quality, and how to set this range determines their entire career.