Chris Botti

8 p.m. Friday January 18 and Saturday January 19. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Boulevard.

By Dean C. Minderman on Wed, Jan 16, 2008 at 4:00 am

Chris Botti

$32 to $42. 314-516-4949.

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Although trumpeter Chris Botti is, by his own admission, neither a particularly daring improviser nor a bravura technician, he's carved out a highly lucrative niche in the jazz world by emphasizing melody and mood. Whether paying tribute to his Italian-American heritage on his most recent CD Italia or tackling standards from the Great American Songbook, Botti's generally good taste in tunes and his warm, burnished tone have made him a popular success without pandering to purely commercial interests. His live shows are enhanced greatly by a band stocked with first-rate jazz players, including the versatile drummer Billy Kilson and pianist Peter Martin, a St. Louis native who joined Botti's group last year after a long stint as musical director for singer Dianne Reeves.