Miroslav Vitouš
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš, born 6 December 1947) is a Czech jazz bassist who was born in Prague. He began the violin at age six, and started playing the piano at age ten, and bass at fourteen. As a young man in Europe, Vitouš was a competitive swimmer. One of his early music groups was the Junior Trio with his brother Alan on drums and fellow Czech luminary-to-be Jan Hammer on keyboards. He studied music at the Prague Conservatory (under František Pošta), subsequently winning an international music contest in Vienna, earning him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Vitouš's virtuoso jazz bass playing has led critics to place him in the same league as Scott LaFaro, Dave Holland, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Christian McBride. A representative example of Vitouš's double bass playing is Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968), with Chick Corea on piano and Roy Haynes on drums. This album shows his strong rhythmic sense, innovative walking lines, and intensity and abandon as an improviser.
His first album as a leader, Infinite Search, re-released with minor changes as Mountain in the Clouds featured several key figures from the then-budding jazz fusion movement: John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, and (slightly) elder statesman Joe Henderson.
A founding member of the group Weather Report, he has worked with Jan Hammer, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, and Jan Garbarek. Vitouš has since discussed his contentious departure from Weather Report with journalists, specifically regarding his relationship with Zawinul. Alphonso Johnson, who replaced Vitouš, was himself replaced by the highly innovative and influential bassist Jaco Pastorius. In 1988 Vitouš moved back to Europe to focus on composing, but nonetheless continued to perform in festivals.
Discography
As leader
- 1969: Infinite Search (aka Mountain in the Clouds) (Embryo Records) with John McLaughlin, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette & Joe Chambers
- 1970: Purple with John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul & Billy Cobham
- 1976: Magical Shepherd with Onike, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, James Gadson & Airto Moreira
- 1976: Majesty Music
- 1977: Miroslav (Freedom) with Don Alias
- 1978: Guardian Angels with Mabumi Yamaguchi, John Scofield, Kenny Kirkland & George Ohtsuke
- 1979: First Meeting (ECM) with John Surman, Kenny Kirkland & Jon Christensen
- 1980: Miroslav Vitous Group (ECM) with John Surman, Kenny Kirkland & Jon Christensen
- 1982: Journey's End (ECM) with John Surman, John Taylor & Jon Christensen
- 1985: Emergence (ECM) solo
- 1992: Atmos (ECM) with Jan Garbarek
- 2003: Universal Syncopations (ECM) with Jan Garbarek, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin & Jack DeJohnette
- 2007: Universal Syncopations II (ECM) with Bob Mintzer, Gary Campbell, Bob Malach, Randy Brecker, Daniele di Bonaventura, Vesna Vasko-Caceres, Gerald Cleaver & Adam Nussbaum
- 2009: Remembering Weather Report (ECM) with Franco Ambrosetti, Gary Campbell, Gerald Cleaver & Michel Portal
As sideman
Template:Expand section With Weather Report
- Weather Report (1971)
- I Sing the Body Electric (1972)
- Live in Tokyo (1972)
- Sweetnighter (1973)
- Mysterious Traveller (1974)
With Chick Corea
- Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968)
- Trio Music (ECM, 1981)
- Trio Music Live in Europe (ECM, 1984)
- Rendezvous in New York (Stretch Records, 2003)
With Larry Coryell
- Spaces (1970) with John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, & Chick Corea
With Jack DeJohnette
- The DeJohnette Complex (Milestone, 1969)
With Jan Garbarek
- StAR (ECM, 1991)
With Stan Getz
- The Song Is You (1969)
With Terje Rypdal
- Terje Rypdal / Miroslav Vitous / Jack DeJohnette (ECM, 1978)
- To Be Continued (ECM, 1981)
With Sadao Watanabe
- Round Trip (1974)
With Laszlo Gardony
- The Secret (Antilles, 1988)
