Botti Kicks Off 2026 SFJAZZ Residency with West Coast Warmth
Joined by jazz heavyweights Chris Potter and Mark Whitfield, the trumpeter’s annual residency bridges the gap between atmospheric pop and hard-bop virtuosity, solidifying Miner Auditorium as his West Coast home.
In the San Francisco cultural ecosystem, Chris Botti’s arrival at SFJAZZ has evolved from a mere booking into a seasonal ritual. For a decade, the trumpeter has transformed Miner Auditorium into his West Coast sanctuary, a counterpart to his storied 21-year holiday residency at the Blue Note in New York. Yet viewing Botti merely as a smooth-jazz figurehead misses the architecture of his performance. As witnessed on the opening night of his 2026 residency—a run of nine shows over seven nights—a Chris Botti concert is a curated act of sonic hospitality.
Botti took the stage with the casual swagger of a man in the middle of a marathon—specifically, a grueling run of 82 shows over 52 consecutive nights. Despite the exhaustion implied by such a schedule, his presence was immediate and tactile; he shook hands with the front row and locked eyes with the balcony before blowing a single note. When he raised his 1939 Martin trumpet, the sound was unmistakable: sumptuous, open, and drenched in his signature reverb.
Critics often dismiss this heavy processing as a crutch, but in the live setting, it serves as a deliberate aesthetic choice, akin to the textural wash used by ambient electronic producers. On the opening number, "Sevdah," from his 2012 album Impressions, and the subsequent "Gabriel's Oboe," that reverb allowed the trumpet to occupy as a vocal presence. This synth-like pad filled the silence with romantic melancholy, silencing the room and establishing an intimacy that belied the venue's size.
However, the evening’s narrative arc was defined by the tension between this polished atmosphere and the raw, harmonic danger of serious jazz. This friction was most palpable during "Someday My Prince Will Come." Botti introduced the piece by invoking the late '50s Miles Davis sextet, playfully sparring with his drummer, Lee Pearson, over whether Kanye West or Jimmy Cobb was on the original recording. But the humor gave way to a fascinating deconstruction. Botti instructed pianist Julian Pollack to play "out of time," creating rhythmic elasticity that allowed bassist Daniel Chmielinski—whom Botti rightly dubbed a "young phenom"—to deliver a solo of startling maturity.
Chris Potter and Mark Whitfield. Photo: Steve Roby
If the first act was about texture, the arrival of special guest Chris Potter signaled a shift toward muscularity. A member of the SFJAZZ Collective and a modern titan of the tenor sax, Potter is known for technical ferocity that contrasts sharply with Botti’s melodic restraint. When Potter stepped into the spotlight, the smooth jazz label was effectively obliterated. On Wayne Shorter’s "Footprints," Potter pushed the ensemble into complex harmonic territory, his lines jagged and searching, forcing the rhythm section to respond with greater urgency. It was a masterclass in generational dialogue, with Botti stepping back to let Potter, a musician he introduced as someone "jazz critics and jazz fans alone" agree upon, dominate the sonic landscape.
Anastasiia Mazurok. Photo: Steve Roby
The evening’s most revealing "insider" moment came not from the music but from Botti’s candid stage banter about the physical toll of the tour. Referencing violinist Anastasiia Mazurok’s visible struggle with a pinched nerve, Botti launched into an elaborate, slightly surreal NBA analogy. He joked that if his band were an NBA franchise like the Portland Trail Blazers, Mazurok would be benched and subjected to press conferences about her injury. Instead, in the jazz world, the show simply goes on. This glimpse behind the curtain—coupled with an admission that he had stripped the lacquer off his vintage horn by giving it a "bath" in New York—humanized the production’s gloss. It reminded the audience that beneath the designer suits and perfect lighting, this is a working band operating on little sleep and high adrenaline.
Botti’s role as a curator extended to the vocal segments, which were structured to bridge the gap between the Great American Songbook and modern pop. He brought out his longtime guitarist, Mark Whitfield, for a reading of Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah." While acknowledging that they placed sixth on Time’s list of best cover versions (behind Jeff Buckley), the duo’s interplay was genuinely affecting, trading solos that prioritized lyrical phrasing over flash.
Later, the narrative took a cinematic turn with a story about touring with Barbra Streisand. Botti recounted a surreal morning in Ottawa, where Streisand’s tour manager, Marty, procured Michelin-star Chinese food and 60 bouquets of roses at 9:00 a.m. to welcome the star and Botti’s crew to the tour bus. The anecdote served as a perfect prelude to "You'll Never Know," sung by the transcendent Sy Smith. Smith’s soprano was precise and ethereal, embodying the perfection Botti clearly admires in Streisand.
Sy Smith. Photo: Steve Roby
The concert concluded with a modern-day standard: Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’s "Die With a Smile," featuring a duet with Sy Smith and singer-songwriter John Splithoff. Splithoff’s soulful grit provided a counterpoint to the evening’s earlier polish; the performance underscored Botti’s refusal to be confined by genre purism. He framed the song as a rarity in modern music—a commercially successful track that retains harmonic integrity.
There was no encore, and none was needed. Botti delivered a set that was rigorously paced and emotionally complete. By balancing his own atmospheric sensibilities with the fiery virtuosity of guests such as Chris Potter and the soulful grounding of Mark Whitfield, Botti proved once again that his SFJAZZ residency is essential. He creates a space where the populism of smooth jazz and the intellect of hard bop don't just coexist; they complement one another, hosted by a bandleader who knows precisely how to make a room feel like home.
Program Notes
Artist: Chris Botti
Date/Showtime: January 5, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Miner Auditorium, San Francisco
Personnel: Chris Botti (trumpet), Chris Potter (saxophone), Anastasiia Mazurok (violin), Julian Pollack (piano/keys), Daniel Chmielinski (bass), Lee Pearson (drums), Mark Whitfield (guitar), Sy Smith (vocals), John Splithoff (vocals and guitar).
Setlist: “Sevdah,” "Gabriel's Oboe," “Someday My Prince Will Come,” “When I Fall In Love,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Hallelujah,” “Footprints,” “Cinema Paradiso,” “A Song For You.” "You'll Never Know," “Die With a Smile.”
Read our 2023 concert review of Chris Botti’s show in Denver here.
