Botti at Sea II (’25) promises 7-days and nights of ensemble entertainment and showmanship unlike anything you’ve experienced!
Chris Botti
HostDavid Foster
Katharine McPhee
Kamasi Washington
Esperanza Spalding
Corinne Bailey Rae
Kool & the Gang
SPECIAL GUESTAntonio Sánchez & Bad Hombre
Four time Grammy winner Antonio Sánchez was a gymnast on Mexico’s Junior National Team, a conservatory-trained classical pianist, the composer and performer of the score for the Oscar-winning film BIRDMAN and is one of the most inventive and heralded drummers on the planet today.
Born in Mexico City, Antonio Sánchez began playing the drums at age five and began to perform professionally in his early teens in Mexico’s rock, jazz and latin scenes.
After pursuing a degree in classical piano at Mexico's National Conservatory he enrolled in Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Shortly after moving to New York City in 1999, Antonio was scooped-up by Pat Metheny, for whom he recorded nine albums and toured for 18 years. He has also performed with Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden — among others — and on several occasions he was named Modern Drummer’s "Jazz Drummer of the Year".
Antonio's popularity soared when he scored Alejandro Iñárritu’s film Birdman, winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture.Recent projects include his critically acclaimed The Meridian Suite, his sociopolitical electronica & drums exploration Bad Hombre and Lines in the Sand in which Sánchez turns his political anger into a moving musical statement as a protest against injustice in our current political climate and as a tribute to every immigrant’s journey.
In Spring 2022 Warner Bros Records will release SHIFT (Bad Hombre Vol II). The much-anticipated recording features Sánchez collaborating with artists ranging from Trent Reznor to Lila Downs...from Meshell Ndegeocello to Dave Matthews and more.
Benny Benack III
By age 31, Emmy-nominated trumpeter and singer Benny Benack III has proven to be that rarest of talents: not only a fiery trumpet player with a stirring command of the postbop trumpet vernacular in the vein of Kenny Dorham and Freddie Hubbard, but also a singer with a sly, mature, naturally expressive delivery in the post-Sinatra mold, performing standards and his own astute songs with a thrilling sense of showmanship. This duel-threat ability was recognized by the 2022 Downbeat Critics Poll where he appeared as not only the #2 Rising Star Male Vocalist, but a top Rising Star Trumpeter as well. His superb intonation and bracing virtuosity enable him to handle astounding feats of originally composed vocalese (complex solos with written lyrics). On top of it all, he’s a highly capable pianist as well.
Benny has performed internationally as an Emcee/Host for the Youtube sensation Postmodern Jukebox, and achieved his own viral success amassing millions of views for his crooning alongside the Grammy-award winning “8-Bit Big Band”. In early 2020 he released A Lot of Livin’ to Do, the follow-up to his well-received 2017 debut One of a Kind. This sophomore effort, richly varied in mood and brimming with bop inflection, features bassist extraordinaire and Jazz ambassador Christian McBride (whose Grammy-award winning Big Band frequently calls upon Benny in the trumpet section) and drummer/producer Ulysses Owens, Jr., as well as the radiant Takeshi Ohbayashi on piano and Rhodes. His vocalese duet on “Social Call” from this album alongside fellow young star vocalist Veronica Swift became an instant smash hit single, being transcribed and learned by Jazz vocalists around the world.
Emmet Cohen
Gerald Clayton
Cory Henry
Morgan James
Alonzo Bodden
COMICNate Smith
Sullivan Fortner
Wycliffe Gordon
Terell Stafford
Ben Williams
When it comes to black music, Washington, D.C. produces its share of game-changers. That long list includes Duke Ellington, Chuck Brown, Marvin Gaye, Shirley Horn, Roberta Flack, Bad Brains, Meshell Ndegeocello, Wale, and Oddisee. You can add Ben Williams to that venerated roster.
For more than a decade, Williams has steadily become one of the most acclaimed and versatile bassists in modern jazz. In 2009, he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. He has performed/recorded with such giants as Pat Metheny, George Benson, Stefon Harris, David Sanborn, Lauryn Hill, Wynton Marsalis, Robert Glasper, Maxwell, and Nicholas Payton. In 2013 and 2015 Williams received the DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll Rising Star Award for Bass. Williams became a “Rising Star” when he won the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition Award that landed him his first record-deal with Concord Records. Thereafter, he recorded and released State of Art in 2011 with his band, Sound Effect. The Album received an impressive 4.5 Star Review in DownBeat Magazine and reached #1 on the charts of iTunes and the National BillBoard. He was named the 2011 iTtunes Breakthrough Artist of the Year in the category of jazz.
As a leader, Williams revealed his talents as a keen composer and bandleader on his first two Concord Records albums – State of Art (2011) and Coming of Age (2015). As gripping as those albums are, they don’t prepare you for Williams’ newest album, I AM A MAN, released Rainbow Blonde, a new imprint co-owned by singer, songwriter, and kindred spirit, José James. Sonically, the new album departs grandly from the mostly acoustic instrumental settings of his previous albums. Williams imbued his love for modern R&B and hip-hop and his socio-political awareness subtly on State of Art and Coming of Age. But on I AM A MAN, he brings them to the fore with mesmerizing vocal-centric songs that will surely raise his profile higher in modern soul and rap circles.
With the help from sound engineer Brian Bender, I AM A MAN boasts a humid and hazy sound that recalls Soulaquarian albums released by The Roots, Erykah Badu, Bilal, D’Angelo, Common, and Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor. “I wanted to make this not just a musical statement, but sonically, I wanted to dig into a different sound. We had the opportunity to work in the studio to craft some sounds. What you hear is Brian’s brilliance with engineering. I wanted this record to deal with the past, present, and future,” Williams says.