Chris Botti
If anyone has ever heard Chris Botti play his golden horn, his name will suffice. If they haven’t I advise them to run to U-tube, search for his name and add Time to Say Goodbye at the end. All anyone has to do is listen to his enchanting trumpet and they will be hooked. The patron sitting next to me in the lofty mezzanine area of the Paramount in Austin can’t say enough about how excited she is to see him, and I hear her entire Chris Botti story. And I’m happy she was able to get tickets for tonight and that she is here.
The Paramount
We are thirty minutes early for the performance, so I have time to absorb my surroundings. The Paramount—a 1,270-seat theater—like other theaters of its era, is a beautiful jewel box, and sitting where we are, I can examine it up close. A beautiful painted medallion of an angel playing the harp takes center stage—above the stage. I discover the heavenly angel is appropriately, Saint Cecelia, the patron saint of music. During my Google wanderings, I also learn the theater was built in 1915 as part of the Interstate Vaudeville Circuit to bring top talent to Austin and elevate the city’s cultural footprint. Houdini was here, as well as other notables and a US President almost a century later.
Like most historic old buildings, the Paramount had a hard life, going from riches to rags and back again. It changed names and purposes—more than once. When circumstances called for it, The Paramount left live theater behind making itself into a movie house then returning to live theater, only to become what it is now—a hybrid of both, showing classic films and luring a bevy of incredible musical talent to its stage. Suddenly, the lights dim, and everyone is quiet. Michael whispers, “Turn off your phone.” I oblige.
Chris Botti at the Paramount
In this intimate space, I feel like I am getting to know Chris Botti the man. During his conversation with the audience about the music and the concert, he inserts casual antidotes about his life, his travels, his friends, his discoveries, and his career. Chris Botti has been on the concert circuit for twenty years, on the road and performing over 5,000 concerts. He is sixty-one and jokingly refers to getting closer to the Clint Eastwood(Gran Torino) “Get off my lawn” stage of life. The audience laughs. He relays the fact that at twenty-one he dropped out of college to join Frank Sinatra’s back-up band, smiling he adds that is probably not the best thing for young people to hear.
“…On Friday and Saturday nights, I never went out. I practiced my instrument. The reality is that most musicians are not really well-rounded people. It’s music and the trumpet. That’s really all I ever wanted to do. It’s all I’ve known.”
IAM Article – Chris Botti
He shares the stage not just with his band—each member having a substantial share of the spotlight—but also with a notable violinist, a saxophonist, two female vocalists, and a male vocalist. Chris Botti tells stories and gives us background on each performer. He knows all of them well.
The show is non-stop; not one five-minute break is ever taken. In between all the glittering, sparkling talent, Chris Botti takes center stage and, like Gabriel, blows his horn. And I absorb the sound. Too soon, it is over. The audience stands in appreciation.
Walking back to the hotel, I tell Michael it seems like Christ Botti was only a bit player in his concert, and it makes me sad. But I understand. I just witnessed and heard two solid hours of spectacular entertainment—how could one man have enough air in his body to perform alone on his golden horn for 120-minutes? I’m just glad I was here.
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