Midnight Without You

by Chris Botti

Overview

The trumpeter makes apologies for making albums whose very straightforward melodies owe more to his pop session work with Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, and Scritti Politti than the Chet Baker jazz vocabulary he grew up learning. If Botti was aiming for such a seemingly paradoxical blend of open spaces and smoky intimacy on Midnight Without You, he's definitely on the mark. A few of the tracks here -- most notably the snappy blues-based pop tunes "Regroovable" and "The Way Home" -- have seductive rhythm schemes and hypnotic gut-sticking hooks, but the rest just sort of hang back and play aloof, daring listeners to find them anything more than steamy, romantic background music for slow dancing and whatever comes next. The Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan infuses a folky vocal personality into the title track, and "Mr. Wah" uses those synth textures as a springboard for some more intensive improvisational funk exercises, but on tunes like "The Steps of Positano," "Never Gone," and "When Rain Falls" Botti's warm tones are in service of what amounts to a melancholy soundtrack to a rainy day. Which seems to be Botti's very intention. ~ Jonathan Widran

Product Details

Release Date:	05/20/1997
Label:	Verve Forecast
UPC:	0731453713222

Tracks

1. The Steps of Positano
2. Midnight Without You
3. Regroovable
4. Never Gone
5. The Way Home
6. When Rain Falls
7. Until Now
8. Mr. Wah
9. Forgiven
10. Alone in the City

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Chris Botti   Primary Artist,Piano,Trumpet,Keyboards
The Blue Nile   Primary Artist
Jonatha Brooke   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals
Paul Joseph Moore   Guest Artist,Keyboards,Piano
Tony Levin   Guest Artist,Bass
Andy Snitzer   Guest Artist,Piano,Wurlitzer,Piano (Electric),Native American Drums
Paul Buchanan   Guest Artist,Vocals
Jeff Allen   Bass
Bakithi Kumalo   Bass
Harvey Jones   Keyboards
Shane Fontayne   Guitar
Vincent Nguini   Guitar
Jerry Marotta   Brushes,Cymbals,Native American Drums
Larry Saltzman   Guitar
Joe Bonadio   Sordu,Tambourine,Native American Drums
Shawn Pelton   Drums,Drums (Snare)
Gerry Leonard   Guitar
Marc Shulman   Guitar
John Levanthal   Organ

Technical Credits

Kristen Koerner   Engineer
Aron Keene   Engineer
Paul Joseph Moore   Producer,Programming,Composer,Engineer
Keith Shortreed   Engineer
Frank Ockenfels   Photography
The Blue Nile   Performer
Andy Snitzer   Producer,Programming,Drum Programming
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Kevin Killen   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Harvey Jones   Atmosphere
Chris Botti   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Atmosphere
Shane Fontayne   Solo Instrumental
Guy Eckstine   Executive Producer
Paul Buchanan   Composer
Jonatha Brooke   Performer
Shawn Pelton   Drum Programming
Sung Lee   Design
Giulio Turturro   Art Direction
Jimmy Corona   Technical Support