I first heard of Chris Botti when he toured with Sting. Being a (former) trumpet player, I usually surprise people when I tell them that I normally don't listen to smooth jazz CDs that feature trumpet performances. Botti is the exception. I believe this is the first Botti CD I purchased. Botti seems to pattern himself after Chet Baker, another handsome trumpet player that liked to sing from time to time. Let's hope Botti doesn't go down the same heroin-lined road that consumed Baker. Overall, I find this CD to be very relaxing and it lends itself to both active and passive listening.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Peak on Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart: #17
Tracks: The first two tracks are solid. I could do without the occasional vocal track on a mostly instrumental album. Sting's take on the standard "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" drips with his pompousness and suffers from a cheesy string arrangement. Of the remaining tracks, my favorites are Under a Painted Sky and The Place Between Us. Botti has such a great tone I can't understand why he would ever use a mute.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I distinctly remember listening to this CD in my portable building classroom in El Maton, Texas in the fall of 2001. I was finishing up a graduate degree while working full time. This disc often played in the background as I completed my term paper/research project for a course titled Foundations of Educational Research (I got an A).
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