Invitation (Jaco Pastorius album)

Invitation is the third album by Jaco Pastorius, released in December 1983. This is a live album recorded at various venues during a tour of Japan in September 1982, featuring his "Word of Mouth" big band. While his debut album showcased his eclectic and impressive skills on the electric bass, both Invitation and his previous album, Word of Mouth focused more on his ability to arrange for a larger band.

This album features mostly numbers written by other artists. The exceptions are new arrangements of "Continuum", from his debut album, and "Liberty City", from Word of Mouth, as well as "Reza", an original number bookending his version of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps".

The band's all-star cast included Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, Toots Thielemans, Peter Erskine, Othello Molineaux, and Don Alias.

Track listing

 * 1) "Invitation" (Bronisław Kaper) – 6:57
 * 2) "Amerika" (Traditional) – 1:09
 * 3) "Soul Intro/The Chicken" (Jaco Pastorius/Pee Wee Ellis) – 6:49
 * 4) "Continuum" (Jaco Pastorius) – 4:28
 * 5) "Liberty City" (Jaco Pastorius) – 4:35
 * 6) "Sophisticated Lady" (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish) – 5:17
 * 7) "Reza/Giant Steps/Reza (Reprise)" (Jaco Pastorius/John Coltrane) – 10:23
 * 8) "Fannie Mae" (Buster Brown, Clarence Lewis, Morgan Robinson) – 2:38
 * 9) "Eleven" (Miles Davis, Gil Evans) – 0:49

Personnel

 * Jaco Pastorius – electric bass, vocals (on "Fannie Mae")
 * Randy Brecker – trumpet
 * Bob Mintzer – tenor and soprano saxophone
 * Jean "Toots" Thielemans – harmonica (listed as a "special guest")
 * Peter Erskine – drums
 * Othello Molineaux – steel drum
 * Don Alias – percussion

Additional

 * Elmer Brown, Forrest Buchtel, Ron Tooley – trumpet
 * Jon Faddis – trumpet (solo on "Reza")
 * Wayne Andre – trombone
 * Dave Bargeron – trombone, tuba
 * Peter Graves – bass trombone, co-conductor
 * Bill Reichenbach – bass trombone
 * Mario Cruz – tenor and soprano saxophone, clarinet, alto flute
 * Randy Emerick – baritone saxophone, clarinet
 * Alex Foster – tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, clarinet, piccolo
 * Paul McCandless – tenor saxophone, oboe, English horn
 * Peter Gordon, Brad Warnaar – French horn