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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Miroslav Vitouš| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš| alias =| Born = birth date and age|1947|12|6 Prague, Czechoslovakia | death_date =| instrument = Double bass , electric bass | occupation = Musician , songwriter | years_active =| label = Freedom Records | associated_acts = Weather Report , Miroslav Philharmonik Review| website = http://www.miroslavvitous.com/ miroslavvitous.com| notable_instruments = Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš (6 December 1947), is a Czechs|Czech jazz double bass|bassist .
Biography
Born in Prague , he began the violin at age six,cite web|title =A Fireside Chat With Miroslav Vitous |publisher=All About Jazz |first=Fred|last=Jung | url = http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php? id=619 |date =2003-10-10 |accessdate =2010-06-20 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 ),cite web|title =Miroslav Vitous: It Comes Down to Taste |publisher=All About Jazz |first=Paul|last=Olsen | url = http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php? id=27881 |date =2008-01-07 |accessdate =2010-06-20 subsequently winning an international music contest in Vienna , earning him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston , USA.
Vitouš's virtuoso jazz bass playing has led critics to place him in the same league as Scott LaFaro , Dave Holland , Niels-Henning Řrsted 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 Drum kit|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 (musician)|John McLaughlin , Herbie Hancock , Jack DeJohnette , and (slightly) elder statesman Joe Henderson .
A founding member of the group Weather Report , 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 Zawinulcitation needed|date=June 2010. Alphonso Johnson , who replaced Vitouš, was himself replaced by the highly innovative and influential bassist Jaco Pastorius .
In 1984 he collaborated with Stanley Clarke .1984 Sydney Town Hall, producer Ian Davis (ABC radio)
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 Records|Freedom )
1978: Guardian Angels
1979: First Meeting (album)|First Meeting ( ECM (record label)|ECM )
1980: Miroslav Vitous Group (ECM)
1982: '' Journey's End (album)|Journey's End (ECM)
http://www.myspace.com/miroslavvitous Miroslav Vitouš MySpace site
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php? id=73853 Miroslav Vitouš interview at Allaboutjazz.com
http://www.bass-musician-magazine.com/General/bass-musician-magazine-detail.asp? year=2009& month=8& article-id=517801068 Conversation With Miroslav Vitous, 8/01/2009
http://www.penceland.com/cgi-bin/play_flv.pl? filename=Miroslav_Vitous%20and%20Stanley_Clarke%20-%20Agitation.flv& width=500& height=375& title=Miroslav%20Vitous%20and%20Stanley%20Clarke%20-%20Agitation "Agitation", with Stanley Clarke
Weather Report Persondata | NAME =Vitous, Miroslav | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =1947-12-06 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Vitous, Miroslav Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:People from Prague Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians Category:Jazz fusion musicians Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:Czech jazz musicians Category:Czech jazz double-bassists Category:Weather Report members Category:Freedom Records artists
