During a 10-week lay- off while on tour with Sting for his "Brand new Day" album, the featured solo artist on the tour Chris Botti rented a house in the Hollywood Hills to write and record his "Night Sessions" album, 4 weeks to write and 6 weeks to record and mix.

On December the 3rd 2001 Chris Botti took to the stage of the "EL REY" theatre in L.A. to celebrate the release of the "Night Sessions" album, his first release for the Columbia label (the musical home of jazz legend Miles Davis), this DVD is a record of their performance, a report in the L.A. times said of the show "trumpeter Chris Botti's performance, was an impressive step forward for a performer who seems to possess all the qualities of a breakout musical star, visually charismatic, musically engaging, appealing personable".

2. Set List (like scene select in a film)

Interviews with Chris Botti (2) Sting (talks about Chris) and Shawn Colvin (who also gives her thoughts on Mr Botti)

The concert starts with an announcer telling you, "from L.A. join us for a special evening of music, it's Chris Botti and friends featuring Sting and Shawn Colvin.
The first thing to notice is that the stage has been made to look like a European café by the use of large silk covered cushions placed in front of the back line speakers (these are the small speakers placed at the front of the stage so that the performers can hear them selves play) so as too disguise them from the audience near the front of the stage who are all sitting at small tables with little lamps in the middle just like the a restaurant setting giving the performance an intimate feel.

While there is a natural gap in the performance Chris Botti takes the opportunity to make an announcement, "Please welcome onto the stage Sting the sound of big cheers go up, Sting makes his way to the stage, Botti starts to play the intro to the jazz standard (made famous by Frank Sintra) "In the Wee Small hours". There is a studio version of this track on Chris Botti album from 1999 called "Slowing down the World" catalogue number 547 301-2 on the Universal label.
I personally prefer this version to the Sintra interpretation as I find his to have a very overwhelming sounding arrangement by Nelson Riddle that is all horn sections and the big band style that I am not a fan of, Botti's arrangement allows Sting the space to breathe and to sing the song and not have to shout over a loud sounding band that sounds like it's trying to impress with it's sheer volume.
With Botti's band the song is given a fresh twist with it's stripped back style that gives both Sting's singing and Botti's trumpet playing ample room to do no more than is required to communicate to the audience the loneliness and longing that the song is about which makes it for me more memorable and have a greater impact.

The Brazilian influenced song begins with the sound of wind chimes and Hissss on the hi-hats and Shawn delivers the opening line "Old enough to be her Dad, but the young men where just mad, they nursed their grievances, she was flattered by his charms, wouldn't do her any harm, they'd all have their chances" the song appears to me to about a rich man who sees everything and everybody as a possession and just wants the young woman in the song just to impress his friends.
He keeps her in a house on a hill, with a warm and smooth croon that works perfectly with the effortlessly played trumpet of Botti that gives the croon style of Colvin a perfect foil, the sinister tale of a woman as a man possession and then just ignored once he had her is conveyed by the melancholic theme played on the trumpet and enforced by the keyboards, this all tied up with a pretty arrangement to make the subject matter more palatable.
A tale to make you watch out where your intimate romantic encounters led too.
For me this duet between Colvin and Botti is one of the many highlights of this live performance.

For a change in pace another instrumental from the same album, "Regrooveable" starts with a rock-sounding guitar intro, which is played against a funky rhythm section of Teperberg and Ossman, Botti plays in-between the guitar and bass and keyboards where the previous track was all tragic and sad this piece is all full of the joys of life and showcases Botti's ability to capture and change a mood in a few moments of time another thing to watch out for during this part of the show is the duel between the 5 string bass and guitar which ends with a superb bass solo and the crescendo of the track is the trumpet which stops dead and as the crowd are still clapping the keyboard plays the first few chords of the Blue Nile track "Easter parade" from their debut album "A walk across the Rooftops" from 1984 on the Linn label through Virgin catalogue number LKHCD1, where the Blue Nile version is a vocal track Botti has taken away the lyrics and just used the music to create a soundscape that reminds me of the themes used by Botti on his hard to find soundtrack for the film "Caught" on the Verve forecast label catalogue number 533 095-2 (yes I have a copy) with just the sound of trumpet and piano Botti plays a incredible version of the track that ends the Night Sessions CD the prefect end to the album.

To provide a rest bite from the "free form" jazz Botti introduces Shawn Colvin to the stage again this time playing one of her own songs, from her 1996 album "A few small Repairs" on the Columbia label catalogue number 4843277 2.
(Chris Botti appears on the album on the track "You and the Mona Lisa")

The sound of high hats and trumpet plays the opening section of the Sting track from his debut solo album "Dream of the blue Turtles" from 1985 "Moon over Bourbon street", Sting sings with a great deal of fun in his voice it's during the second verse he starts to sing in Louie Armstrong style and then back to his own style during the middle 8 section of this track Botti holds a note that seems to go off into infinity, back to Sting who sings the rest of the track superbly he starts to gently hold the note on the word street at the end of the song as the band follow the vocal the song comes to close with Sting howling like a wolf to end the performance.