Miroslav Vitouš
Miroslav Vitouš | |
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![]() Vitouš in 2014 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš |
Born | Prague, Czechoslovakia | 6 December 1947
Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion, funk |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instruments | Double bass, bass guitar |
Years active | 1962–present |
Labels | ECM, Freedom |
Website | miroslavvitous |
Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš (born 6 December 1947) is a Czech jazz bassist.[1]
Biography[edit]
Born in Prague,[2] Vitouš began the violin at age six, switching to piano after about three years, and then to bass at age fourteen.[3] 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 Jan Hammer on keyboards. He studied music at the Prague Conservatory under František Pošta,[4] and won a music contest in Vienna that gave him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music.[3]
In 1967, in Chicago, Miles Davis saw Vitouš playing with Clark Terry and invited him to join his group for a residency at The Village Gate in New York City.[5]
Vitouš recorded his debut album Infinite Search for Embryo (later issued on Atlantic as Mountain In The Clouds) in 1969 with Joe Henderson, John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, and Joe Chambers. In 1970, he also recorded Purple for Columbia with McLaughlin, Billy Cobham and Joe Zawinul.
In 1970, he was a founding member of the group Weather Report.[3] Vitouš was replaced by Alphonso Johnson in 1973, later stating "I enjoyed the beginning of it very much, but it turned into a little bit of a drag in the end because Joe Zawinul wanted to go in another direction. The band was seeking success and fame and they basically changed their music to go a commercial way into a black funk thing". He also felt aggrieved financially, commenting "I was an equal partner and basically, I didn't get anything. We had a corporation together that was completely ignored. If you have a company and three people own it, and then two people say 'Okay, we don't want to work like this anymore. It's just two of us now', normally, they break down the stock and pay off the third person".[6]
In 1981, Vitouš performed at the Woodstock Jazz Festival held in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Creative Music Studio, and in 1984 he collaborated with Stanley Clarke.[7] In 1988, Vitouš moved back to Europe to concentrate on composing but nonetheless continued to perform in festivals.
In 2001, Vitouš reunited with Chick Corea and Roy Haynes, with whom he had recorded Corea's album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs in 1968, for a concert in a series entitled "Rendezvous in New York" in celebration of Corea's 60th birthday. The album of the same name came out in 2003 and earned Corea a Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for the composition "Matrix".[8]
He has also worked with Larry Coryell, Jan Garbarek, Jack DeJohnette, Freddie Hubbard, Michel Petrucciani, Terje Rypdal, and Wayne Shorter.
Discography[edit]
As leader[edit]
- Infinite Search (Embryo, 1970)
- Purple (CBS/Sony, 1970)
- Magical Shepherd (Warner Bros., 1976)
- Majesty Music (Arista, 1976)
- Miroslav (Arista/Freedom, 1977)
- Guardian Angels with George Otsuka, John Scofield, Kenny Kirkland, Mabumi Yamaguchi (Trio, 1979)
- First Meeting (ECM, 1980)
- Miroslav Vitous Group (ECM, 1981)
- Journey's End (ECM, 1983)
- Emergence (ECM, 1986)
- Atmos with Jan Garbarek (ECM, 1993)
- Universal Syncopations (ECM, 2003)
- Universal Syncopations II (ECM, 2007)
- Remembering Weather Report with Michel Portal (ECM, 2009) – recorded in 2006-07
- Music of Weather Report (ECM, 2016)
- Ziljabu Nights (Intuition, 2016)
- Moravian Romance with Emil Viklický (Venus, 2018)
As a member of Weather Report[edit]
- Weather Report (Columbia, 1971)
- I Sing the Body Electric (Columbia, 1972) – recorded in 1971–72
- Live in Tokyo (CBS/Sony, 1972)
- Sweetnighter (Columbia, 1973)
- Mysterious Traveller (Columbia, 1974) – recorded in 1973–74
As sideman[edit]
With Roy Ayers
With Chick Corea
With Larry Coryell
With Herbie Mann
With Steve Marcus
With Adam Pierończyk
With Terje Rypdal
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With Wayne Shorter
With Joe Zawinul
With others
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References[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miroslav Vitouš. |
- ^ Ginell, Richard S. "Miroslav Vitous". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ Berendt, Joachim-Ernst (1979). Jazz, a Photo History. ISBN 9780028702902.
- ^ a b c Jung, Fred (10 October 2003). "A Fireside Chat With Miroslav Vitous". All About Jazz. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
- ^ Olsen, Paul (7 January 2008). "Miroslav Vitous: It Comes Down to Taste". All About Jazz. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
- ^ "ECM". ecmrecords.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ^ Prasad, Anil. "Miroslav Vitous – Freeing the Muse". Inner Views. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ 1984 Sydney Town Hall, producer Ian Davis (ABC radio)
- ^ "Past Winners Search". Grammy.com. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
External links[edit]
- 1947 births
- Living people
- Musicians from Prague
- Avant-garde jazz musicians
- Jazz fusion musicians
- Berklee College of Music alumni
- 20th-century double-bassists
- 21st-century double-bassists
- Czech jazz double-bassists
- Czech jazz musicians
- Male double-bassists
- Weather Report members
- ECM Records artists
- Freedom Records artists
- Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States
- 20th-century Czech male musicians
- 21st-century Czech male musicians
- Male jazz musicians