Trumpeter Chris Botti follows up his 2007 classical-themed album
Italia and his smash 2009 concert album
Live in Boston with 2012's
Impressions. In many ways,
Impressions combines the best of those two earlier albums by featuring more of the classical crossover and Latin-inflected style of
Italia with a few pop reinterpretations and a handful of guest vocalists as in much of his previous work. Produced by famed fusion drummer and longtime Botti associate
Bobby Colomby,
Impressions is a languid and expertly crafted album in which Botti's burnished, lyrical trumpet tone is often framed against lush orchestrations via arrangers including
Vince Mendoza,
Gil Goldstein, and others. To these ends, we get a gorgeous take on
Frédéric Chopin's Prelude No. 20 in C Minor, a duet with opera star
Andrea Bocelli on the David Foster/Botti composition "Per Te [For You]," and a moving,
Miles Davis-inspired duo version of
R. Kelly's "You Are Not Alone" featuring guitarist Leonardo Amuedo. Also intriguing are such cuts as Botti's brooding and sultry collaboration with jazz piano legend
Herbie Hancock on "Tango Suite," his yearning, cinematic take on
Astor Piazzolla's "Oblivion" with violinist
Caroline Campbell, and his stark duet on the
Gershwin standard "Summertime" with pianist Foster. Elsewhere, we get a Broadway-inspired rendition of
Randy Newman's "Losing You" featuring country singer
Vince Gill, a re-pairing with guitarist Amuedo on the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," and an inspired interpretation of the
Louis Armstrong number "What a Wonderful World" featuring guitarist/singer
Mark Knopfler. As with most of Botti's oeuvre,
Impressions is a lyrical, romantic, and impeccably produced album that makes the most of the trumpeter's generous skills.
