Second Cup Cafe: Chris Botti

Chris Botti's new album has sold more than 300,000 copies so far and is showing no signs of slowing down.

The jazz trumpeteer and his band make a return visit to The Saturday Early Show's Second Cup Café to perform selections from "When I Fall In Love," and discuss his upcoming tour with Josh Groban.

He describes his album as "romantic chill-out music." He notes laughing, "the sticker on the front says, 'soundtrack for romance.'"

It was recorded in London with a 60-person orchestra at George Martin's studio, which Botti says is "probably the greatest studio in the world. All the performances are live, no fixes or anything. Paula Cole sits in for a couple of songs. It's fantastic. We finished the whole record in a couple of weeks. I'm more proud of this than anything else I have done. I can quit performing now and be totally satisfied."

As far as his musical style, Botti says, "It's about the sound of my trumpet and the melody I play."

Botti started playing the trumpet early on, but is very outspoken against marching bands. "I graduated school a year early so I could get out of marching band," he says. "The marching band is there to support sporting events; it's rarely about the music."

But being part of the band paid off. The band director turned him on to Miles Davis when Botti was 12, and Botti has idolized Davis ever since.

But the thrill of his lifetime came when he played for Frank Sinatra during the 1985 tour. "It was his big comeback tour and he was singing beautifully at that time," recalls Botti, who was then 21.

Asked what Sinatra was like, Botti says, "I played a solo during one rehearsal and he turned around and said, 'Nice solo, kid.' One time I gushed all over him and one of Frank's assistants told me to stop bothering him (laughter). Frank was very polite to me, though."

This past May, Botti was named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" and for that, the artist says, he gets teased relentlessly.

"It's so difficult in this day and age for instrumental artists to punch through into the mainstream," he says, turning serious, "so anything that helps is a good thing."

Next for Botti is a show in Wisconsin and then, he is opening for Sting in Europe. "We end our European trip at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. I will support this record for a good year and-a-half on the road," Botti says.