Miroslav Vitouš

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

Born in Prague, Vitouš began the violin at age six, switching to piano after about three years, and then to bass at age 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 Jan Hammer on keyboards. He studied music at the Prague Conservatory under František Pošta, and won a music contest in Vienna that gave him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music.

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.

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 Cobhamand Joe Zawinul.

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