DVD: Miroslav Vitous

Miroslav Vitous, Live In Vienna (MVD Visual). Another in the series of bassists playing at Porgy & Bess in Vienna. This time the star is Vitous, an erstwhile wunderkind of the double bass who arrived in New York from Czechoslovakia in the late sixties and quickly installed himself in the US jazz scene. After concentrating on his role as an educator, he is again in heavy performance mode. In this concert, Vitous applies his formidable gifts to a range of music including Beethoven, Dvorak, Jewish melody, opera fragments, a lyrical ballad, free improvisation and straight-ahead jazz reflecting his days with Miles Davis. This is a solo bass recital. Despite the claim of the minimal liner notes that Vitous is accompanied by pianist Fritz Pauer and drummer John Hollenbeck, they are nowhere to be seen or heard.