Chris Botti Debuts At #1 On Jazz Charts & #18 On Billboard Top 200 With 'To Love Again'

To Love Again, the much-anticipated new album of pop jazz standards from acclaimed trumpeter Chris Botti, has debuted at #18 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling album, making history as the first album release from a jazz trumpeter to debut in the Top 50 during the SoundScan era.

In addition to its Top 200 breakout, To Love Again has debuted at #1 on the Jazz Traditional Album Sales and the Jazz Overall Album Sales charts, according to SoundScan.

With first week's sales of 43,853 copies, it's Botti's best sales week ever. To Love Again has already reached a higher position on the Top 200 than any of Chris's previous albums, including his previous release, the RIAA Gold- certified When I Fall In Love. (When I Fall In Love debuted at #124 before its rise up the charts, peaking at #1 on the Top Jazz Albums chart and #37 on the Top 200.)

Chris Botti has launched a major U.S. tour in support of To Love Again (see full itinerary following).

To Love Again, which is available as both a traditional CD and as a DualDisc, showcases Chris Botti's inimitable velvet tone and sublime trumpet phrasings on 13 newly recorded pop and jazz standards featuring nine stand-out vocal performances by some of the greatest singers in modern pop, jazz, and rock.

Joining Chris on To Love Again are guest vocalists Sting ("What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?"), Paula Cole ("My One And Only Love"), Michael Buble ("Let There Be Love"), Jill Scott ("Good Morning Heartache"), Paul Buchanan ("Are You Lonesome Tonight?"), Gladys Knight ("Lover Man"), Renee Olstead ("Pennies From Heaven"), Rosa Passos ("Here Comes That Rainy Day"), and, yes, that Steven Tyler (on Charlie Chaplin's "Smile").

Rounding out To Love Again are the instrumental tracks "What's New?," "I'll Be Seeing You," "Embraceable You," and "To Love Again." As on his last album, Chris Botti is joined once again by the London Session Orchestra, who provide lush tonal coloration to the album's arrangements.

The DualDisc edition of To Love Again features an exclusive short film, "Live From Studio A," shot in the famed studio at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. Chris and his quartet jammed as the cameras rolled and the result is four live songs and twenty three minutes of gorgeous sounding (and looking) contemporary jazz.

Two of the four songs performed live on the DualDisc, "To Love Again," and "I'll Be Seeing You," also appear on the audio CD in their original/studio versions with full orchestra. The other two songs, a pair of Miles Davis classics, "Flamenco Sketches" and "Milestones," do not appear on the audio CD in any form. As a bonus for jazz aficionados, "Flamenco Sketches" features guest saxophonist David Sanborn.

To Love Again follows the extraordinary success of Botti's groundbreaking last album, When I Fall In Love, which has sold more than 500,000 copies to- date.

  Chris Botti Tour Dates
   10/28/05       West Palm Beach, FL     Raymond F. Kravis Center For The
                                          Performing Arts
   10/29/05       Melbourne, FL           Maxwell King Center For The
                                          Performing Arts
   10/30/05       Naples, FL              Performing Arts Center
   11/02/05       Durham, NC              The Carolina Theater / Durham
   11/03/05       Annapolis Junction, MD  Ramshead
   11/04/05       Easton, PA              Pennsylvania State Theatre
   11/05/05       Lebanon, NH             Lebanon Opera House
   11/07/05       San Diego, CA           Dave Koz Cruise
   11/08/05       San Diego, CA           Dave Koz Cruise
   11/09/05       San Diego, CA           Dave Koz Cruise
   11/17/05       Morristown, NJ          Morristown Community Theatre
   11/18/05       Troy, NY                Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
   11/19/05       Westville, CT           Southern Connecticut State College
   11/25/05       Honolulu, HI            Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Concert
                                          Hall
   11/26/05       Honolulu, HI            Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Concert
                                          Hall
   12/01/05       Los Angeles, CA         Wilshire Ebell Theatre
   12/02/05       Los Angeles, CA         Wilshire Ebell Theatre
   12/06/05       New York, NY            The Blue Note - New York
   12/07/05       New York, NY            The Blue Note - New York
   12/08/05       New York, NY            The Blue Note - New York
   12/09/05       New York, NY            The Blue Note - New York
   12/10/05       New York, NY            The Blue Note - New York
   12/11/05       New York, NY            The Blue Note - New York
   01/07/06       Englewood, NJ           Bergen Performing Art Hall
   01/08/06       Columbus, OH            Ohio Theatre
   01/13/06       Texarkana, TX           Perot Theatre, Theatre
   01/19/06       Green Bay, WI           Meyer Theatre
   01/20/06       Cedarburg, WI           Cedarburg Performing Art Center
   01/21/06       Jasper, IN              Jasper Community Arts Center
   02/03/06       Greenvale, NY           Tilles Center For The Performing
                                          Arts

SOURCE: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Fran DeFeo, Columbia Records, Media, New York, +1-212-833-5784,
Fran.DeFeo@sonybmg.com

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