Chris Botti plays his trumpet at the Wellmont on Oct. 21

Not everybody is lucky enough to watch a presidential debate with Sting, but Chris Botti isn't everybody.

Botti found himself at his buddy Sting's house in Manhattan watching presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump square off on Monday, Sept. 26. Botti, who has spent time with Bill Clinton and played for him at the White House, said he took delight in the "snarky English comments going on."

The Grammy Award-winning trumpeter will be in this area performing at the Wellmont Theater on Friday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m.

His history with Sting goes back 20 years to a rainforest benefit at Carnegie Hall and their duet of "Roxanne," a hit song from Sting's days with The Police.

Botti called on the day Frank Sinatra died in May 1998 and asked Sting's assistant if he would record "In the Wee Small Hours," the title track of Sinatra's 1955 album.

Sting agreed to record with him on the condition that Botti fly to Italy to play on his album. Botti wondered who got the better deal. The collaboration continued in 1999 when he joined Sting's Brand New Day tour that took them to nearly 60 countries.

DON'T PESTER MR. SINATRA

Botti remembered a time when Sinatra was more than just an icon to admire. He left Indiana University, and had a two-week stint with the Chairman of the Board at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

"I looked like Opie sitting in the horn section," he said about his youthful appearance during performances with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, comparing himself to a very young Ron Howard who played Opie Taylor on "The Andy Griffith Show."

Botti recalled the amphitheatre was an open-air venue at the time and, of course, the unmistakable presence of Sinatra. "At that time, he still had his voice. To see him walk on stage, I had never really been to L.A. before. I was 21 years old."

He misses Sinatra's easy, conversational style with his audiences - something Botti doesn't see much of today except for old school performers, such as comedians like Don Rickles.He said Sinatra came to a sound check and heard Botti's solo on "Fly Me to the Moon," a rendition that prompted praise. "Great solo, kid," said Sinatra.

The youthful Botti thought that was an invitation to say more. "I thought Mr. Sinatra and I were friends," he said. "I'm Chris Botti from Oregon," he cheerfully chirped. Soon after, Sinatra's assistant put an arm around the young man and told him not to bother Mr. Sinatra anymore.

"JUNKING OUT" ON THE GREATS

Even though he's achieved acclaim for his work, Botti is a perpetual student - a necessity because the horn is such a demanding instrument.

"I study the hell out of them," he said of the YouTube tutorials which give him a chance to watch greats like Winton Marsalis warm up letting him see how he holds his horn. "I junk out on all the trumpet players," he said comparing this to a boxer watching Muhammad Ali's footwork. "Once you think you know it all, it will kick your butt."

He laughed out loud at the thought of being a "young, stupid teenager" and writing letters to his favorite performers like Chuck Mangione. "He was amazingly gracious," said Botti. His musical hero got in touch with him and let him know, "I can't come to your house for dinner, but you can meet me backstage."

Former Crescent Valley High School classmate Mary Bengel said that Bob Ernst, their high school band director, took some kids to a jazz club in Salem, Ore. so they could see Bobby Shew perform. "Chris being Chris, he went right over and shook his hand," said Bengel.

SEEING THE GREATNESS EARLY

"I've had thousands of students in my career. Kids can be very talented, but not very industrious. Chris is a unique combination of both," said Ernst, who considers working with him as one of the rewards of being a teacher.

Ernst encouraged Botti to get his G.E.D. and move up to Portland if he wanted a serious musical career. He was so impressed with his talent he had him play the processional march at his wedding in 1979.

Bengel, a high school teacher in Beaverton, Ore., who has been a band director for middle school and high school for nearly 30 years, remembers the first time she heard Botti play. It was during a rehearsal for the marching band's halftime show. He had a solo during the number "Maria" from "West Side Story."

"I heard this trumpet player from the back of the band. There was something different from the beginning - the musicality, the tone," Bengel said.

She found he gave good advice and boosted the morale of others.

"Stay away from boys. Just stick with music," he told her only half-teasing.

Regarding auditioning, Botti told her, "Mary, don't go and audition until you are cool, calm, confident and cocky as hell." From then on, she began practicing in the girls' bathroom for the quiet and great acoustics.

Once, when they went to a jazz festival, Bengel brought the wrong saxophone to the event. When Botti heard what happened, he was quick to give her a pep talk. "Don't worry about it, Mary. Just shake it off," he said. "He was like a professional," she said.

When Ernst had his saxophone stolen, Botti was one of a group of kids who organized a 48-hour Monopoly marathon to raise money to replace the instrument. Bengel said it was set up like a March of Dimes fundraiser and people could make pledges to the cause. The group stayed at Ernst's home for the entire event sometimes sleeping on the floor with Ernst's wife making the kids cinnamon rolls for breakfast. At the end, they earned enough to buy him a replacement.

SWIMMING POOL CONCERTS

Dave Becker of Manzanita, Ore., remembers visiting his father, Manning Becker, at his home in Corvallis, Ore. The elder Becker, who is now deceased, was the next door neighbor to Chris Botti and his family.

As the band director of South Salem High School in Salem Ore., Becker was especially attentive when Chris was practicing in his bedroom. The room happened to be right above his father's swimming pool where the family would gather.

"Kids don't practice efficiently," commented Becker on what he generally hears when students play music. "I listened to him practice. He spent time on long tones, the fundamentals of the instrument. When he was in seventh grade, I'd hear these beautiful long tones come out of his bedroom window. It sounded like an adult practicing." He said for three years he was able to listen to him on these visits and see his rapid progression as a music maker building his technique as well as his tone quality.

Becker, who retired in 2011 as director of bands from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., remembered when Botti was in ninth grade, he would play along with educational CDs of jazz standards. "He'd be improvising over the top of the rhythm section. That's what serious students and professional jazz players do," he said.

RHYTHM OF THE SIMON TOUR

Ernst called Botti a "practice fiend" and credits his discipline to the success he's had and the accomplished performers he's worked with in his career like Paul Simon.

"He was my first real appetite for touring," Botti said about his time with Simon on The Rhythm of the Saints tour. Working with Simon and that group had a family feel to it. Botti said that period with Simon really assisted him to move forward professionally, helping him get a record deal and become a solo artist, among other career catapults.

Ernst remembers meeting Chris in New York City when his family took a cross-country camping trip in 1994. Part of the fun included going out to dinner with him and bumping into Simon and the composer Philip Glass. "It was pretty cool for the old band teacher," he said. Botti had tickets and backstage passes waiting for him when he performed with Simon. The trumpeter even included him in the credits of his first CD. "Chris remembered where he came from and who helped him, said Ernst, who is now retired and living in the Los Angeles area because the climate is better for his Lyme disease.

THE RARE BIRD

During the visit, Botti was called to do a solo on a commercial for New England Telephone Company and brought Ernst along. "I got to watch the whole process," he said, adding it took a long time for Botti to stop calling him Mr. Ernst after high school.

"Not very many kids go on to become professional musicians," he said, recalling the great number of students he's had in the past. "Probably four or five kids become successful musicians, but nothing like Chris. That's one in 100 teachers' lifetimes."

Email: sparta@northjersey.com