This feature comes from KNKX's show Tree of Jazz, taking you through the eras, from the roots to the new budding leaves, with a weekly deep dive into iconic artists, albums, and instruments.
The band Weather Report began in 1970. They became one of the seminal bands of electric jazz. They took the open-ended language around Miles Davis’s electric period and gradually turned it into something tighter and more digestible to a broad audience.
Two of the band’s founding members, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Joe Zawinul, were also in the Davis electric band that helped bring this electric funk and experimental-tinged jazz sound to prominence.
The third Weather Reporter founder, innovative bassist Miroslav Vitouš, also added to the group's evolution, but in a different way. His emphasis on sprawling sonic conversations between all instruments eventually led him to leave the group.
Vitouš’ Beginnings
Born in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1947, Vitouš played violin, piano and bass all before he was 15. In 1966, at 19 years-old, he won the prestigious international jazz competition in Vienna, which sent him to the United States to attend Berklee School of Music.
Vitouš quickly dropped out of Berklee to focus on gigging. He was already an in-demand bassist, and according to him, already had a firm grasp on the music concepts being taught.
“I asked the director if he would be so kind as to move me up because I was sitting over there just basically wasting time. He said that they could not move me up and so I stopped going to school and I started to practice at home with the record player and tape recorder,” Vitouš told Jazz Weekly.
Around that same time, Zawinul was hitting his stride with the Cannonball Adderley band. In 1966, they released the soulful “Mercy Mercy Mercy,” which saw mainstream success and quickly rose in the pop charts. Zawinul was a prolific composer, too. Adderley recorded more than 50 of his songs, including “Walk Tall” and “The Country Preacher."
Meanwhile, Shorter was pushing acoustic jazz to its limits and solidifying his legacy in jazz with Miles Davis’ second great quintet and as a bandleader for Blue Note records. On the 1968 record Miles in the Sky, Miles Davis and the rest of the quintet went electric.
Weather Report Beginnings
The musical worlds of Vitouš, Shorter and Zawinul began to overlap, thanks in large part to Davis’ experiments in electric sounds.
Vitouš played with Davis and Shorter for a week at the Village Gate in 1967, subbing for bassist Ron Carter. Vitouš called it the “most amazing musical experience that I have had to that point.”
Soon after, Davis invited Zawinul to the studio to contribute to recordings that would eventually become sprawling electric dreamscape, In A Silent Way. Shorter was also in on those sessions. From there, both of them would take part in the landmark Bitches Brew sessions with the Davis electric band.
In that same period, Vitouš recorded with Shorter on his album Super Nova. He also recorded with pianist, and member of Davis electric band, Chick Corea.
In 1969, Vitouš debut as a leader, a calming and meditative listen, Infinite Search, was with Herbie Hancock, Jack Dejohnette and John Mclaughlin, who all played with the Davis' electric band. His second album, a Japanese-only release called Purple, featured Zawinul on keys.
In the shadow of these collaborations, the trio Shorter, Zawinul and Vitouš formed Weather Report and recorded their self-titled debut in 1971. McCoy Tyner’s former drummer Alphonse Mouzon joined them, as did percussionists Airto, Barbara Burton and Don Alias.
The core trio stayed together, along with an ever expanding list of guest musicians, for two more albums: I Sing the Body Electric and Sweetnighter. Gradually, the band’s sound edged toward more funk and groove-oriented sounds, and Vitouš didn’t want to go in that direction. He didn’t want to hold down a static groove; he wanted to be in the conversation.
This creative difference led Shorter and Zawinul to include Vitouš much less. He only appeared on two tracks on the next album, Mysterious Traveler. By the next album, 1975’s Tale Spinnin’, Vitouš was out of the band.
The Misconception
Despite frequent misunderstanding, Vitouš was not pushed out of Weather Report to make room for legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius. Creative differences would push him out, and Alphonse Johnson would take his place as bassist before Pastorius officially joined the band in 1976.
Shorter and Zawinul continued Weather Report until 1986. Their groove-oriented funk sounds brought them big success and a wider audience, especially with the iconic 1977 track, “Birdland."
Following his time in Weather Report, Vitouš has never stopped growing past the fusion era. He participated in various projects that blur the lines between classical and jazz improvisation and he developed an orchestral sample library to aid his composing, and he's had a constant stream of released including a new project in 2026 called Mountain Call.
Weather Report certainly has grown its own branch of influence on the Tree of Jazz.
This story comes from the July 26, 2026 episode of the Tree of Jazz. Listen to the past two weeks of Tree of Jazz On-Demand and hear deep dives like this each week on the Tree of Jazz, on air and online every Sunday from 3-6 p.m. PT.
