Ultimate Jaco Pastorius CD

Personnel: Jaco Pastorius (piano, synthesizer, electric bass); Joni Mitchell (vocals); Hubert Laws (flute); Randy Emerick (alto flute, clarinet, baritone saxophone); Alex Foster (piccolo, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone); Toots Thielemans (harmonica); Mario Cruz (clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Bob Mintzer (bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Paul McCandless (oboe, English horn, tenor saxophone); Don Bonsanti, Gary Lindsay (woodwinds, saxophone); Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Brian O'Flaherty, Elmer Brown, Forrest Buchtel, Kenneth Faulk, Jon Faddis, Melton Mustafa, Randy Brecker, Brett Murphey, Ron Tooley (trumpet); Jerry Peel, Steve Roitstein, Peter Gordon , Brad Warnaar (French horn); Peter Graves (trombone, bass trombone); Dave Bargeron (trombone, tuba); Russ Freeland, Mike Katz, Wayne Andre, Bill Reichenbach Jr. (trombone); Joe Zawinul (piano, keyboards); Herbie Hancock (piano); Chester Thompson (drums); Jack DeJohnette, Peter Erskine (drum); Don Alias (congas, percussion); Manolo Badrena (congas); Leroy Williams , Othello Molineaux (steel drum); Robert Thomas Jr, Alex Acuña, Emil Richards, Oscar Salas (percussion).
Legendary bassist Jaco Pastorious was involved in so many different projects, and had his fingers in so many musical pies, that it's difficult to get a comprehensive grasp on his oeuvre. For this reason, compilations offer a particularly useful introduction, and 2007's ULTIMATE JACO PASTORIOUS (along with 2003's PUNK JAZZ: THE JACO PASTORIOUS ANTHOLOGY) are good bets.
At 10 tracks, ULTIMATE may seem a little thin, but the range and level of invention present in those tracks is enough to compensate for the short running time. While some key tracks seem to be missing (his scintillating version of "Birdland" with Weather Report, for example), the selections--"Donna Lee," "3 Views of a Secret" and "Liberty City," among them--show off all the technical dazzle of Pastorious's playing, as well as his formidable skills as an arranger and bandleader. PUNK JAZZ offers a more complete overview, but for a concise sampler of the artist, it's hard to go wrong with this set.
When talking of electric bass, no one figure garners as much respect, notoriety and awe as Jaco Pastorius. Both as a fiery soloist and a thoughtful sideman, Pastorius' singular style made its mark on the worlds of both jazz and rock -- and that is precisely the scope of Mosaic's Ultimate Jaco Pastorius collection. Culling tracks from across his (far too short) career, Ultimate succeeds in showing the bassist's full range. Included is not only his work with Weather Report ("Teen Town," "Barbary Coast") and his solo output ("Donna Lee," "Invitation"), but also a cut from his stint with Joni Mitchell ("The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines," from Mingus), as well as some all-star fun from The Birthday Concert. It's not a definitive spread by any means (a couple tracks from Mitchell's Don Juan's Reckless Daughter sure wouldn't have hurt) but for those interested in getting hip to why Pastorius is held in such high regard, Ultimate makes a stellar jumping-off point. ~ J. Scott McClintock