What Chris Botti remembers from the tour

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to meet the great Chris Botti in person and interview him for my Trumpet Dynamics podcast.

You can listen to the interview here: https://trumpetdynamics.com/botti

This was actually my second time interviewing Chris. The first time was when I was a wet-behind-the-ears podcaster and through a mutual connection was able to meet him in South Korea of all places for an interview way back in 2015.

Thinking back about that time, I realize how inexperienced I was; in fact, Chris more or less interviewed himself. That’s just how those things go in those types of situations.

This time the interview went really well. I was able to hold my own, more or less maintain control of the bucking bronco, and it turned out really well.

But one thing Chris said before we even hit record was something along the lines of, “Meeting you back then is one of the moments I remember from the tour.”

As you can maybe imagine, when a band tours for 200+ days out of the year, the dates, locations, venues, etc. blend together into one giant morass of activity. So to hear that from someone of his stature, who has done literally thousands of interviews over the years really means a lot.

It goes to show the power of personal connection, and is one more reason I’m glad I’ve stuck with it in this business through thick and thin.

At any rate, the interview was really good, and as a sidebar: after seeing Chris perform live twice, to anyone who thinks of him as “Kenny G on trumpet,” I don’t even want to talk to you. He’s a legit virtuoso in his own right.

Again, here’s the link to listen: https://trumpetdynamics.com/botti