Search - Miroslav Vitous :: Emergence

A sleeper

09/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great album and a real sleeper (something great that doesn't get a lot of notice). Miroslav Vitous is one of those musicians who adhered to that facet of the jazz tradition where attaining your own sound was very important. Nowadays, it's difficult to tell who's who, except that you can usually tell who they're copying. This solo bass record is pure Miroslav, and that's a great thing to behold. As usual, he performs with great imagination, depth and soul. Plus, he's one of the few bass players who actually play in tune (there are many who don't . . . ).Other albums w/Miroslav humbly recommended:
Miroslav Vitous/Infinite Search
Miroslav Vitous Group on ECM with Surman,Kirkland, etc.
Weather Report/Weather Report (columbia)
Weather Report/I Sing the Body Electric (columbia)
Chick Corea/Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (blue note)
Larry Coryell/Spaces (vanguard)"

Symphonic solo album

Morten L. Jacobsen | København, Denmark | 05/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Quite an epic statement.Miroslav plays with great feeling, conviction and invention, drawing the listener into a very personal musical world.
He's actually not a bass player who 'plays in tune', but deliberately displays a very vocal intonation, sometimes bordering on decidedly out-of-tune statements.Contempararies such as Eddie Gomez and Stanley Clarke also use this technique to great effect.In Miroslav's case, it heightens the emotional impact of the performance and enhances the folky elements of the pieces(there are quite a few).
Inspite of this being a solo bass performance without overdubs, the material has both form, symmetry and compositional logic to put most musicians/composers to shame.
More than show off his chops as a bass player, Miroslav makes musical sense as a MUSICIAN of the highest order.Sometimes sounding like a whole symphony orchestra!
Recommended!"

Rare, Intimate and Beautiful!!

Louie Bourland | Garden Grove CA | 06/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Czechoslavakian bassist Miroslav Vitous is probably best known for his pioneering work with the Jazz-Fusion band Weather Report. However, since leaving the band in 1974, Vitous has produced some extraordinary pieces of work on his own. One such work is 1985's "Emergence", a personal and intimate album of solo bass material.

"Emergence" was recorded completely live in the studio without overdubs or any other trickery thus revealing the warm resonant tones of Vitous's upright bass. While some pieces such as the opening "Epilogue" and "Wheel of Fortune" do have a slight jazz feel to them, a majority of the album is comprised of mostly classically-based music which feature Vitous's flawless bowing technique in full force. His agressiveness on "Transformation", the four-part "Atlantis Suite" as well as the Miles Davis-inspired closing piece "Variations on Spanish Themes" is nothing short of spectacular with a timbre resembling that of a cellist (YoYo Ma comes to mind while listening to many of the tracks here).

"Emergence" offers a rare glimpse of Miroslav Vitous's flawless bass playing without the aid of other instruments. It's a refreshing, exhuberant album by an underrated master and above anything else, it is a rare beauty!!!

Recommended!!!

"