“Weather Report belonged to the three of us. When it ended, they didn’t pay me – they just took it”: Miroslav Vitous on his departure from Weather Report (and his thoughts on the bassists who replaced him)

Miroslav Vitous performs on stage at North Sea Festival on July 10 1984 in The Hague, Netherlands. Joe Zawinul and Jaco Pastorius from the band Weather Report talk backstage on May 27, 1979 at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, California.

From his early collaborations with the likes of Bob Brookmeyer and Clark Terry to his own constantly evolving recorded work, Miroslav Vitous has continually redefined the role of the bass in jazz.

After winning a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in 1965, he moved to New York and quickly established himself as one of the young lions of jazz bass, landing high-profile gigs with Herbie Mann, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, and Miles Davis, among others.