Excitement is in the air this Wednesday, December 3, 2025 evening at the Grunin Center for the Arts — located on the campus of Toms River, NJ’s Ocean County College — where audience members are streaming in for a concert by jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. The show is a benefit performance presented by the Ocean County College Foundation.
In the Grunin Center lobby, Ken Malagiere, Executive Director of the Ocean County College Foundation, explains, “Our foundation exists to provide scholarships and special program support for the students of Ocean County College. This is our sixth year of doing this fundraiser,” before noting, “We’ve been trying to get Chris Botti for years so we’re delighted to be able to bring him here tonight.”
Inside the Grunin Center auditorium, Malagiere takes the stage to welcome the crowd, announcing, “We are thrilled to present a Grammy-award winning artist, a world-renowned trumpeter, and a genre-defying performer who is here with us in Ocean County to celebrate the arts and, also, to celebrate the students and what we do in our Foundation,” prior to revealing, “This past year alone we have distributed over two million dollars in scholarships and special program support for the students of Ocean County.”
Audience members cheer as Malagiere introduces Chris Botti, who takes the stage along with keyboardist Julius Rodriguez, bassist Barry Stevenson, drummer Lee Pearson, and violinist Anastasiia Mazurok.
Opening with the mystical instrumental piece, “Sevdah,” the glorious tone of Botti’s trumpet rises above an ethereal-sounding synthesizer. Anastasiia Mazurok plays her violin with sweeping gestures, her melody line filled with emotion as she’s deftly accompanied by keyboard, upright bass, and drums. Botti rejoins the mix and he and Mazurok trade off playing the composition’s haunting melody before pianist Julius Rodriquez renders a lyrical solo, Botti and Mazurok soar on their instruments, and the trio captivates the crowd as the arrangement tapers off to a somber ending.
Grand piano and ostinato bass open a slow and jazzy arrangement of Miles Davis’ “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Botti plays expressively with a mute before Lee Pearson’s drums kick in and Rodriguez contributes a bouncy piano solo. The tempo quickens to a running pace as Rodriguez’s fingers fly and decelerates as Barry Stevenson’s bass walks while accompanying Botti’s fluttering trumpet.
Stevenson is featured soloing up and down the fretboard of his bass before the arrangement concludes with Botti restating the melody and holding the last few notes to joyful cheers from the crowd.
Botti and Co. continue with an innovative jazz fusion arrangement of Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall in Love.” As the piece progresses, Botti renders a trumpet solo filled with sky-high notes.
The audience claps along to the funky rhythm set by pianist Julius Rodriguez before he’s joined by Stevenson on bass and Pearson on drums. Improvising on the piano in cascades of runs over the rhythm section, Rodriquez switches over to playing a torrid synth solo before Botti comes in and the band pays tribute to musician Chuck Mangione by incorporating a snippet of Mangione’s “Feels So Good” to energetic cheers and applause.
Botti announces, “Welcome everyone to the show — our first time here,” and introduces his stage mates. Mazurok returns for Botti’s Grammy-winning arrangement of “Emmanuel” where she and Botti play as one from the pit below the stage, creating a soundscape which tugs at the hearts of listeners and elicits cheers and applause from the excited crowd.
Botti takes a moment to recognize a fan in the audience, Rose, who is enjoying her 446th Chris Botti show. He asks Rose to select the next song and she chooses “Cinema Paradiso.” Before beginning the number, Botti invites any young musicians under the age of 25 up in the balcony to come down and take an open seat in the front row to better “see real musicians play who are not attached to a computer.”
Rodriguez’s piano introduces “Cinema Paradiso,” a moving ballad which features Anastasiia Mazurok’s weeping violin and Chris Botti’s muted trumpet.
As the arrangement swells, Mazurok’s violin sings sweetly, Rodriguez plays a tender piano interlude, and Botti’s soaring high notes cascade downward as Mazurok’s high notes reach upward to the sky on the dramatic coda.
The audience cheers when a young drummer, Dylan, comes down from the balcony and chats with Botti who jokes, “Will you work for cheaper than our drummer?” After Dylan takes a seat in the front row, Botti invites guitarist John Splithoff to the stage. Botti reminisces about performing with Frank Sinatra before Splithoff sings lead and plays guitar on Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours.” Splithoff’s sweet soulful tenor calls out with style as he sings, “In the wee small hours of the morning/That’s the time you miss her most of all,” before rendering a steamy electric guitar solo on this funky R&B arrangement which elicits avid cheers and applause.
Splithoff moves down into the pit to serenade the audience with a slow, sweet version of Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight” and follows up with a jazzy arrangement of Leon Russell’s “A Song For You” where, on the coda, he impresses by singing with feeling without a microphone to enthusiastic hoots and hollers.
Botti introduces up-and-coming vocalist, Veronica Swift, who’s featured on a rubato arrangement of “There Will Never Be Another You.” Singing with power and expert phrasing, Swift croons, “There will be other lips that I may kiss/But they won’t thrill me like yours used to do,” before the arrangement shifts into a upbeat swing version of “Love For Sale” where Swift channels Ella Fitzgerald and scat-sings up, down, and around with energy, creativity, and musicality.
Swift follows up with a slow legato rendition of “Embraceable You.” Botti starts off the melody which is picked up by Swift who sings like a chanteuse, “Embrace me/My sweet embraceable you/Embrace me/You irreplaceable you,” before Botti solos with style and power, rendering flawless runs as he coaxes rich tones from his horn.
Swift sings and swings on an upbeat and jazzy version of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ “Moanin’”where Stevenson plays a syncopated bass solo which is accompanied by Swift’s scat improvisations. Botti growls and blares on his trumpet before Swift takes his instrument away from him and deftly solos on it much to the crowd’s delight.
Splithoff returns to the stage and Botti and friends follow up with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile.” Splithoff’s tenor shines as he rhythmically strums his guitar before the band kicks in on this pop-soul tune. After Botti is featured on the interlude, Swift and Splithoff sing in harmony and Mazurok returns to add her violin to the mix as music lovers clap along.
Botti and Co. conclude tonight’s show with the entire ensemble performing Coldplay’s “Fix You” where audience members clap along with Swift and Splithoff as they sing the emotional “Tears stream down your face” refrain of this alternative rocker.
Botti invites patrons to gather around the stage as he plays trumpet and Splithoff sings and plays guitar on a soulful version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” after which Botti exclaims, “Thank you, New Jersey, for coming to our show! Goodnight everyone!”
As audience members make their way out of the Grunin Center auditorium, several comment on tonight’s performance by Chris Botti. Remarks Susan from Toms River, “This show was magical; the talent up on that stage was just ‘beyond!’ The singers and instrumentalists were just excellent; I was sitting there in amazement!” Vickie from Forked River agrees, declaring, “Chris Botti was just awesome! This is my third time seeing him and when he comes around again, I’ll be back. He’s such a great showman; he’s amazing!”
Insists Glenn from Toms River, “I thought Chris Botti was outstanding! I’ve been a fan since 2005 and, tonight, I especially appreciated his greatness. His notes soared beautifully through the air, and his singers and instrumentalists were great, too — he’s played with the best in the world and he always has the top musicians with him — plus, he picks great pieces of music. I didn’t want the show to end; I wanted it to go another two or three hours!”
Dylan from Brick, the young drummer who Botti invited to sit in the front row, asserts, “Chris was amazing! The sound he produced gave me chills! He’s an inspiration to a lot of people. I first saw him back in 2018 and became a fan,” before acknowledging, “My heart was pounding when he invited me to sit in the front row — it’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”
Charlotte from Lakewood exclaims, “Chris Botti is unbelievable and his whole show was unbelievable! I’ve seen him so many places — including on his jazz cruise — and I wanted to see him again this evening so close to home. It was such a fantastic show, I’m so happy I came. The talent on stage was amazing; everybody was incredible!”
Lastly, Vanessa from Robbinsville reveals, “My husband and I have seen Chris Botti many times — probably 10 — and it was especially nice to see him here at the Grunin Center.” Her husband, Dan, agrees, explaining, “We go to every show that comes within 50 miles of us.” Suggesting, “Chris is so good, he should charge double for tickets!” Dan concludes by revealing, “Every time we see Chris we say, ‘This is the best show ever!’ because when he plays, he creates another world where you can just forget about everything else and completely enjoy yourself!”
To learn more about Chris Botti, please go to chrisbotti.com. For information on upcoming performances at the Grunin Center — including Beginnings: A Celebration of the Music of Chicago on March 14, Nella on April 11, The Three American Troubadours Tribute to James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Carole King on May 9, and EagleMania on June 20 — please go to grunincenter.org. To contribute to the Ocean County College Foundation, please click on occfoundation.org/donate.
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