Chris Botti & Friends: Night Session: Live in Concert
September 2002 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Handsome, young Chris Botti is one of the new pretty boys of jazz, a trumpet player with a mellow style, who pursues the European club sound. His playing is laid back and relaxed, his sound broad, warm, and rich. Botti seldom resorts to technical displays of agility, though once in a while he will insert some licks that let a listener know he is capable of the most intricate instrumental ornamentation. Largely, however, he prefers to stay with the long, legato, ballad-style line. The result is most often closer to easy listening than to jazz. If you call Kenny G a jazz player, you will be comfortable giving the same category listing to Botti, knowing that purists might disagree.

Botti recorded Night Sessions about a year ago, and it was released on CD and SACD. To celebrate the release, this live concert was taped at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on December 3, 2001. The enthusiastic audience is seated comfortably at tables where they can enjoy favorite beverages. The stage is thrust well into the crowd. The estimable backup band includes Shane Fontayne on guitar, Harvey Jones on keyboards, Jon Ossman on bass, Karen Teperberg on drums, and Everett Bradley on percussion, with special guest Jason Rebello doing keyboards on "Why Not" and "Moon over Bourbon Street." Though this is a dream band of exceptional talent, the first three numbers of the concert strike me as tepid, largely because of Botti’s pursuit of golden tone at the expense of any kinetic excitement.

Then Sting, who used to employ Botti in his tour band, comes up on stage to sing "In the Wee Small Hours" and everything changes. The musicians come to life as the popular singer, in a slightly frayed, but very expressive vocal style, really swings this familiar tune. No crossover here; this is jazz of the highest order. It is intimate and conversational, and one of the most remarkable performances I have seen or heard on a DVD in a long time. This event is trumped as Shawn Colvin joins the band to give a definitive, world-weary reading of Sting’s "All Would Envy," the cryptic tale of an older man and a younger woman. Once again, the singer inspires the musicians, Botti included, to play their best.

After Colvin leaves the stage, things settle back to a middle-of-the-road sound again, but the two singers reappear in the nick of time to liven things up. Sting contributes a wry version of "Moon over Bourbon Street," in which he successfully (and tastefully) imitates Louis Armstrong, and Colvin sings her own composition, "The Facts about Jimmy," simply and straight from the heart.

The video is anamorphic widescreen and satisfactory, though not exactly state of the art. Images are clean without being razor sharp, with a slight, smoky haze present. It’s hard to believe that the theater wouldn’t have a ventilation system to remove actual smoke so one might assume that this look was deemed by the producers to go hand in hand with Botti’s somewhat smoky style. Medium shots are the worst, while close ups are generally fine. Editing is adequate, though often the camera seems to be on a player who has an accompanying figure, rather than on the main soloist.

The sound is, by Dolby Digital standards, quite good, with adequate frequency extension and dynamic range. The PCM stereo track seems pallid compared to the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The mix for each number varies a bit. I compared this disc with the SACD studio sessions, which do not include Sting, but do include Colvin’s version of "All Would Envy." The SACD places the trumpet commentary for this song in the center-channel, with Colvin’s voice spread between the left and right speakers. The DVD reverses that, with Colvin anchored firmly in the center, and Botti’s trumpet "somewhere" between the left and right fronts. This is one case where a video mix worked better for me. It is more atmospheric, and comfortable, to hear a slightly disembodied trumpet sound than a wandering lead vocal.

All in all, though this review might seem a bit on the cool side, it should be on your "must" list to check out the Sting and Shawn Colvin numbers that can be found on this disc. They would be enough to make me happy I purchased it. They might do the same for you!

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