Lineup Archive - Botti At Sea 2025

Godwin Louis

Godwin Louis was born in Harlem, New York and began playing saxophone at age nine. Godwin grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Port au Prince, Haiti. Godwin was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Saxophone Competition. He has performed around the globe, including Mali, Senegal, Togo, France, Finland, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, […]

Peter Cincotti

Peter Cincotti burst on to the scene at 18 years old when he became the youngest artist ever to reach #1 on the Billboard Jazz Charts. Since then, Peter has been wowing audiences around the globe in some of the world’s most prestigious venues from Carnegie Hall to L’Olympia in Paris. His albums have been […]

Herlin Riley

A native of New Orleans, Herlin Riley started on the drums when he was three. He played trumpet through high school, but he went back to drums in college. After graduating, he spent three years as a member of a band led by Ahmad Jamal. In the ensuing years, he worked often with Wynton Marsalis […]

Diana Krall

Diana Krall is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, Billboard magazine named her the second greatest jazz artist of the decade (2000–2009), establishing her as one of the best-selling artists of her time. Krall is the only jazz singer […]

Jeff Hamilton

Drummer Jeff Hamilton has been honing his big band skills since the tender age of 8, earning him a presence on the stage with legends like Ella Fitzgerald, the Count Basie Orchestra, Rosemary Clooney, Monty Alexander, and Diana Krall. Featured in nearly 200 recordings – including 16 GRAMMY® Award-winning titles – with the likes of […]

John Clayton

Bassist, Composer, Arranger and Producer, John Clayton is a busy man. He is a GRAMMY© winner with nine additional nominations and has written and/or recorded with artists such as Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Regina Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, McCoy Tyner, YoYo Ma and Charles Aznavour, to name only a […]

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 […]

Terell Stafford

Terell Stafford, acclaimed trumpet player based in New York, has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player” by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Stafford is recognized as an incredibly gifted and versatile player, he combines a deep love of melody with his own brand of spirited and adventurous […]

Katharine McPhee

An accomplished actress and singer, Katharine McPhee, first burst onto the scene during a storied run on Season 5 of American Idol (2006), finishing in second place. As an actress, she is well-known to television audiences for starring in the CBS drama series Scorpion (2014-2018), and also as one of the leads in the NBC musical drama Smash (2012-2013), executive […]

David Foster

“I believe that everyone gets three rounds in their life,” says musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, producer, and recording artist David Foster. “For me, two are completed and I’m on to Round Three. I think you have to change it up every round. My mantra is retreat and attack in another direction, which I’ve done twice. Now […]

Emmet Cohen

Jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of his generation’s pivotal figures in music and the related arts. Leader of the Emmet Cohen Trio and creator of the “Masters Legacy Series,” Cohen is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist and dedicated music educator. Winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellow […]

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 post-bop trumpet vernacular in the vein of Kenny Dorham and Freddie Hubbard, but also a singer with a sly, mature, naturally expressive delivery in the […]

Antonio 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 […]

Arlington Jones

Arlington Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1973, but his family moved to Dallas, Texas in 1976 when his father received a job transfer. His musical journey started at an early age because of his parents’ music heritage and vast album collection. He began studying piano at age eight, started playing in church, and […]

Morgan James

“A phenomenal talent whose feel for classic soul music is bone deep…This woman is on fire.” — The New York Times When talking about Morgan James, it’s best to start with the voice – an instrument through which she can communicate anything. A gift bestowed upon her that she has expertly trained, meticulously nurtured, and […]

Kamasi Washington

When Kamasi Washington released his Tour de Force LP, The Epic, in 2015, it instantly set him on a path as our generation’s torchbearer for progressive, improvisational music that would open the door for young audiences to experience music unlike anything they had heard before. The 172-minute odyssey featuring his 10-piece band, the next step, […]

esperanza spalding

Born in 1984 in Portland, Oregon, esperanza spalding (a.k.a. irma nejando) is an eaabibacliitoti* artist, trained and initiated in the North American (masculine) jazz lineage and tradition. Her work interweaves through various combinations of instrumental music, improvisation, singing, composition, poetry, dance, therapeutic research, storytelling, teaching, regenerative agriculture, urban land & artist-sanctuary custodianship, and growing in […]

Kool & the Gang

Kool & the Gang‘s impact on the music landscape spans three generations, leaving an indelible mark through iconic tracks like Celebration, Cherish, Jungle Boogie, Summer Madness, and Open Sesame. Their enduring legacy is underscored by two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits, and an impressive […]

Chris Botti

An instrumentalist who can play straight-ahead as well as smooth jazz with his own personal sound and not a small amount of charisma and stage presence, Chris Botti is truly a star in the world of jazz and beyond. The trumpeter has thoroughly established himself as one of the important, innovative figures of the contemporary […]

Sullivan Fortner

Sullivan Fortner was born and raised in New Orleans. He started playing the piano from the age of four. His mother was the choir director of a Baptist church; he began playing the organ there at the age of seven. After studies at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Sullivan went on to obtain […]

Wycliffe Gordon

Musical ambassador and interpreter of the music, Wycliffe Gordon is one of the world’s most renowned and award-winning jazz trombonists touring today. Wycliffe is a former member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Named “Trombonist of the Year” by Jazz Journalists Association for an unprecedented 15th time, DownBeat Critics Poll […]

Eric Marienthal

Botti at Sea Music Director Eric Marienthal has won two GRAMMY® Awards and has been nominated eight times as a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band, Jeff Lorber Fusion and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. Having performed in over 80 countries and played on hundreds of recordings, films and TV shows, Eric also has […]

Thana Alexa

Surprising is the word that perhaps best describes GRAMMY® nominated, Downbeat cover artist, and winner of the International Songwriting Competition, Thana Alexa, an extraordinarily creative force in music. An awe-inspiring vocalist, composer, arranger, and producer – for whom the voice is both a lyrical and experimental instrument – her music pushes the boundaries of the […]

Mindi Abair

During her remarkable 21-year recording career, saxophonist/vocalist Mindi Abair has garnered two GRAMMY® nominations, recorded with some of the biggest names in music, and built a substantial following among jazz and blues audiences with her soaring melodies and powerhouse style. You might know her as the featured saxophonist on American Idol, sitting in with Paul […]