The Very Best of Chris Botti

If Chris Botti has as enduring a career as his own jazz heroes, The Very Best of Chris Botti may eventually be retitled either The Best of the Verve Forecast/GRP Releases or The Best of the Early Years: 1995-1999. Drawn from the trumpeter’s first three studio albums, it’s fairly evenly divided, with 1995's First Wish and 1999's Slowing Down the World each represented by three numbers and 1997's Midnight Without You the source of five tracks. Vocalists Jonatha Brooke (“Forgiven”), Paul Buchanan (“Midnight Without You”), and Edie Brickell (“Like I Do Now”) can all be heard, as can Botti’s underrated compositional prowess on pieces such as the head-bobbing “Worlds Outside” and the confidently lyrical “The Way Home.”