Miroslav Vitouš

Miroslav Vitouš
Birth name	Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš
Born	December 6, 1947 (1947-12-06) (age 63) Prague, Czechoslovakia
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Double bass, electric bass
Labels	Freedom Records
Associated acts	Weather Report, Miroslav Philharmonik Review
Website	miroslavvitous.com

Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš (6 December 1947), is a Czech jazz bassist.

Biography

Born in Prague, he began the violin at age six,^[1] 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),^[2] subsequently winning an international music contest in Vienna, earning him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA.^[1]

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,^[1] 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,^[1] he has worked with Larry Coryell, 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^{[citation needed]}. Alphonso Johnson, who replaced Vitouš, was himself replaced by the highly innovative and influential bassist Jaco Pastorius.

In 1984 he collaborated with Stanley Clarke.^[3]

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)
• 1970: Purple
• 1976: Magical Shepherd
• 1976: Majesty Music
• 1977: Miroslav (Freedom)
• 1978: Guardian Angels
• 1979: First Meeting (ECM)
• 1980: Miroslav Vitous Group (ECM)
• 1982: Journey's End (ECM)
• 1985: Emergence (ECM)
• 1992: Atmos (ECM)
• 2003: Universal Syncopations (ECM)
• 2007: Universal Syncopations II (ECM)
• 2009: Remembering Weather Report (ECM)

As sideman

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)

With Jack DeJohnette

• The DeJohnette Complex (Milestone, 1969)

With Jan Garbarek

• StAR (ECM, 1991)

With Terje Rypdal

• Terje Rypdal / Miroslav Vitous / Jack DeJohnette (ECM, 1978)
• To Be Continued (ECM, 1981)

With Sadao Watanabe

• Round Trip (1974)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Jung, Fred (2003-10-10). "A Fireside Chat With Miroslav Vitous". All About Jazz. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=619. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
2. ^ Olsen, Paul (2008-01-07). "Miroslav Vitous: It Comes Down to Taste". All About Jazz. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27881. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
3. ^ 1984 Sydney Town Hall, producer Ian Davis (ABC radio)

External links

• Official homepage
• Miroslav Vitouš MySpace site
• Miroslav Vitouš interview at Allaboutjazz.com
• Conversation With Miroslav Vitous, 8/01/2009
• "Agitation", with Stanley Clarke

Persondata
Name	Vitous, Miroslav
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Date of birth	1947-12-06
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