Czech jazz bassist Miroslav Vitouš – born on December 6, 1947 in Prague – was originally trained on violin and piano. While attending the Prague Conservatory, he formed the band Junior Trio with his brother and keyboardist Jan Hammer. A competition prize allowed him to attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Discovered by Miles Davis in 1967, Miroslav Vitouš played with Herbie Mann and Chick Corea before releasing his debut album, Infinite Search, in 1969. His sophomore album Purple was released the following year. He then joined iconic jazz fusion group Weather Report and recorded five albums with them before leaving in 1973. After he left the band, he released several albums – Magical Shepherd (1976), Majesty Music (1976), Miroslav (1977) and Guardian Angels (1979) – before signing with ECM Records. His relationship with ECM allowed him the freedom to experiment with his music and record solo albums such as First Meeting (1980), Journey's End (1983), Emergence (1986), Universal Syncopations (2003), Universal Syncopations II (2007) and Music of Weather Report (2016). After leaving ECM in 2016, he released two albums including 2018’s Moravian Romance, with Emil Viklicky. During his career, Miroslav Vitouš also played on albums by Roy Ayers, Chick Corea, Larry Coryell, Herbie Mann, Terje Rypdal, Steve Kuhn, Donald Byrd, and many others. He collaborated with Polish saxophonist Adam Pieronczyk on albms Wings (2015) and Ad-lib Orbits (2017). In 2026, ECM released the archival album Mountain Call, assembling recordings from 2003 to 2010 featuring Michel Portal and Jack DeJohnette.
