Miroslav Vitous Group Miroslav Vitous Group

• 1When Face Gets Pale05:56
• 2Second Meeting04:57
• 3Number Six05:54
• 4Inner Peace07:25
• 5Interplay10:00
• 6Gears06:35
• 7Sleeping Beauty05:02
• 8Eagle02:00
• Total Runtime47:49

Info for Miroslav Vitous Group

Between 1979 and 1982, the Miroslav Vitouš Group was the primary outlet for the abundant improvisational skills of leader Vitouš and John Surman. They made three ECM albums: this eponymously-titled disc from 1980 is the middle one. Vitouš and Surman were well-matched in lots of ways, with roots and influences that extended beyond jazz, a love of playing freely, a commitment to using all the sound potential of their respective instruments: Surman singing at the top of the baritone sax’s range to match Miroslav’s fiddle-like arco flourishes on the double bass. The redoubtable Jon Christensen shared their passion for playing, as did Kenny Kirkland, just 24 at the time of this session, on his way to becoming one of modern jazz’s outstanding pianists. Repertoire includes classic Miroslav pieces (“When Face Gets Pale”), collective improvising, and an early sighting of Surman’s relentlessly driving “Number Six”.

This one-off grouping found Miroslav Vitous in the company of fine musicians, whose idiosyncratic strengths manage to avoid conflict for an unusually engaging, if inconsistent, set. The Czech bassist’s opening tune, “When Face Gets Pale” grasps the tail of a strong melodic serpent, riding through tall grasses and intermittent sunlight. Along with the lively, Arild Andersen-like lead, we are treated to the animations of Kenny Kirkland at the keys—a sound so burnished that the squeal into being of John Surman’s baritone becomes a rupture to be cherished. A fine place to start. Yet unlike many ECM albums, which begin enigmatically before launching into more patently composed material, this is the other half of that swinging door, starting with a full-on group-oriented sound and unraveling itself inside the freer improvisational architecture of “Second Meeting” (and, later, of “Interplay”). Here, bass clarinet is front and center and plays patty-cake with the rhythm section amid some bubbling pianism. Of the latter, we get more in the Kirkland original, “Inner Peace.” Between bass volleys and fluid gestures, Surman’s throaty baritone again paints its corroded beauty across the sky. Everything Surman touches is beautified, and in his one compositional contribution, “Number Six,” we find the album’s most enchanting cartographies. His soprano grabs hold and never lets go for the duration of its wailing journey, while also giving Kirkland plenty of bounce for a swan dive. Vitous, meanwhile, shows just how nimble he can be in “Gears,” while in “Eagle” his classical training comes forth in fluid arco lines.

Though seemingly at odds with critics, and understandably so for its few false steps, this out-of-printer is still solid. By no means essential, but neither one to pass up should the opportunity present itself.

Miroslav Vitouš, double bass
John Surman, soprano and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet
Kenny Kirkland, piano
Jon Christensen, drums

Recorded July 1980 at Talent Studio, Oslo
Engineered by Jan Erik Kongshaug
Produced by Manfred Eicher

Digitally remastered by ECM.

No biography found.

Booklet for Miroslav Vitous Group