Biography of Miroslav Vitous

A virtuoso bassist and among the finest players ever to come to America from Europe. His father was a saxophonist, and he studied violin at six, then piano before starting on bass at 14. He played with Jan Hammer and his brother Alan in a junior trio at the Prague Conservatory. Vitous studied at Berklee from 1966-1967, then went to New York and worked with Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, and the Bob Brookmeyer-Clark Terry quintet. He worked for a brief time with Miles Davis, then had an extended stint with Herbie Mann from the late 60s until the end of 1970. Later, he was a founding member of Weather Report and remained with them from 1971-1973. Vitous heading his own groups in 1976 and continued to do that, plus extensive session work, throughout the 80s. ~ Ron Wynn