Premiere Broadcasts of 'Chris Botti Live With Orchestra & Special Guests' Draw Unprecedented Audience Response During PBS Pledge Week

Premiere Broadcasts of 'Chris Botti Live With Orchestra & Special Guests' Draw Unprecedented Audience Response During PBS Pledge Week

Acclaimed Jazz Trumpeter Appears LIVE At PBS Affiliates In Support of Pledge Drive Special

NEW YORK, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The critically-acclaimed Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, currently on tour with Grammy-winning saxophonist David Sanborn, has been dropping by local PBS affiliates -- including New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, and the New Jersey State network -- to help support his current PBS Pledge Drive Special, "CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests" (check your local listings).

Funds raised during the debut broadcasts of Botti's concert special are rivaling the totals generated by some of PBS Pledge Drives' most popular musical events.

The March 7th New York premiere of "CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests" raised more than $100K in pledges and matching grants over the course of 90 minutes. New York's Channel 13 has scheduled several repeat broadcasts during the next two weeks.

In Boston (where the special played four times over the course of 48 hours), the first night of the Botti broadcast drew high pledges despite running against the highly-rated competitive "American Idol." The New Jersey State broadcast did similarly well, even though it ran against the Oscars.

In recent years, the PBS Pledge Drive Specials have served as bellwether events, helping to establish mainstream visibility for top caliber musical artists including Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, and Charlotte Church.

"CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests," shot December 1 and 2, 2005, over a Thursday-Friday run at LA's fabled Wilshire Theatre, inspired the Los Angeles Times Don Heckman to write, "It was apparent, from the first notes Chris Botti played at the Wilshire Theatre on Friday, that the sold-out house was in for a special evening.... Botti's latest album, 'To Love Again' -- as well as the previously released 'When I Fall In Love' -- features extraordinary lineups of vocal guest artists. Six showed up for the concert -- Sting, Jill Scott, Paula Cole, Renee Olstead, Paul Buchanan and Gladys Knight -- along with Burt Bacharach...despite the inevitable audience excitement generated by the appearance of such vocal headliners and despite the artists' diversity of interpretations, it was Botti's virtuosic trumpet work, his inventive melody-making, his engaging onstage presence and his powerful band ...that ruled the evening..."

A special DVD edition of "CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests" is being made available exclusively through PBS during the network's Pledge Drive (tune in to your local PBS affiliate for details). A full concert version of "CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests" is slated for DVD release later.

Botti's "What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life?" from his #1 Jazz album, "To Love Again," won a Grammy this year for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s).

CHRIS BOTTI LIVE with Orchestra & Special Guests setlist
1 -- Someone to Watch Over Me
2 -- What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? (w/ Sting)
3 -- 1000 Kisses Deep
4 -- Lover Man (w/ Gladys Knight)
5 -- My One and Only Love (w/ Paula Cole)
6 -- Are You Lonesome Tonight? (w/ Paul Buchanan)
7 -- When I Fall In Love
8 -- Good Morning Heartache (w/ Jill Scott)
9 -- The Look of Love (w/ Burt Bacharach & Paula Cole)
10 -- My Funny Valentine (w/ Sting)
11 -- Cinema Paradiso
12 -- Pennies From Heaven (w/ Rene Olstead)
13 -- Why Not?

Chris Botti March Tour Dates

Thursday, March 09, 2006 Colorado Springs CO Pike's Peak Center
Friday, March 10, 2006 Sioux Falls SD Washington Pavilion
Saturday, March 11, 2006 Minneapolis MN State Theatre
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Redding CA Redding Convention
Center w/David
Sanborn
Thursday, March 23, 2006 Sacramento CA Radisson Hotel
Ballroom w/David
Sanborn
Friday, March 24, 2006 San Francisco CA Masonic Hall
w/David Sanborn
Saturday, March 25, 2006 Fresno CA Saroyan Theatre
w/David Sanborn
Sunday, March 26, 2006 San Diego CA Spreckles Theatre
w/David Sanborn
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 Sahuarita AZ Desert Diamond
Casino w/David
Sanborn
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Palm Desert CA McCallum Theatre

Source: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Maggie Wang of Columbia Records, Media, New York,
+1-212-833-8208, Maggie.Wang@sonybmg.com; Jennifer Holiner, +1-212-246-2640,
Jennifer.Holiner@pmkhbh.com, Meghan Prophet, +1-310-289-6200,
Meghan.Prophet@pmkhbh.com, Jill Fritzo, +1-212-246-6120,
Jill.Fritzo@pmkhbh.com, all of PMK for Columbia Records

Web site: http://www.chrisbotti.com/
http://www.columbiarecords.com/

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