Miroslav Belev

Miroslav Tadić (guitarist) and Yvette Holzwarth (violinist, vocalist) perform unique arrangements based on the rich treasury of Balkan folkloric music and incorporate improvisation from a wide range of styles. Together they create a musical universe that combines and juxtaposes material from many sources — including Baroque, Flamenco, North Indian classical music, Eastern European folk traditions, Americana, Blues, Jazz, and Rock. Tadić's pioneering work on the guitar and Holzwarth's sensitivity and responsiveness come together in a symbiotic dialogue using the language of expressive inflections, rhythms, and sonic experimentation. Take a journey into their musical playground.

Although Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš has had varying levels of success in the post-Weather Report years as bandleader, we can hardly help but marvel at this gem of a solo recording. With nary an overdub in sight and more than enough heart to spare, the Czech bassist plots an orchestral sweep through his precisely (at)tuned skills. Like the caron that disappeared from the end of his name before going international, it is a valley of possibility, and he our shepherd through its gallery of songs and tales.

On this leaderless trio album, as with most ECM releases, you get the feeling of music emerging from a vast and echoey space; Erskine's Morse-code drum accents, Vitous' thrumming basslines and the plaintive cry of Garbarek's soprano and alto saxophones are far removed from what some would consider "jazz," but that's not the point. The tunes may be somewhat interchangeable, but the music is virtuosic, thoughtful and thoroughly lovely, at times heart-tugging. Makes you wish these three would get together more often.

Miroslav Vitous - Music Of Weather Report (2016) {ECM 2364}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 310 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 123 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2016 ECM Records | ECM 2364
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Fusion / Modern Creative / Bass

The great Czech bassist returns once more to the music of Weather Report, the group he co-founded with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter in 1970. It’s the improvisational freedom of the early Weather Report that most interests Vitous, and he abides by their old rallying call “everyone solos and no one solos”. Well-known Report repertoire re-explored includes “Birdland”, “Seventh Arrow”, “Scarlet Woman”, “Pinocchio” and “Morning Lake” and Miroslav’s group also plays “Acrobat’s Issues” a piece which the first Weather Report line-up played but didn’t record.