He played on Shorter's twelfth album, Super Nova, alongside McLaughlin, DeJohnette, Corea, and Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira, among others.

1970 saw Vitouš continue as bandleader as he recorded Purple for Columbia, supported by McLaughlin, Cobham and the keyboardist and fellow Davis alum Joe Zawinul.

Again under Shorter's leadership, he played in the 1970 sessions for what would be released in 1974 as Moto Grosso Feio, splitting bass duties with higher-billed fellow Davis alums Carter and Dave Holland.

Zawinul used them on electric piano and synthesizers, and Vitouš on his upright bass, which he frequently bowed through distortion to create a second horn-like voice behind or alongside Shorter.

"Crystal" was Vitouš's only solely authored contribution to the album whose sleeve featured a highly stylized illustration of a solitary figure standing before a keyboard, and Christgau found the song to be out of step with the literally and metaphorically "electric" direction of the rest of the record.

Vitouš and Zawinul were finding themselves at creative loggerheads, since the former preferred Weather Report's original lightly structured, improvisational approach and the latter wished to continue to integrate other popular African diaspora and African-American music styles.

Retrospectively, Zawinul accused Vitouš of being unable to play funk convincingly (something corroborated by Greg Errico, a former Sly and the Family Stone drummer who briefly toured with the band) and claimed that he had not written enough songs.

When Shorter sided with Zawinul, the original three-man partnership broke down acrimoniously and Vitouš left Weather Report, moving on to an illustrious career leading his own band and winning respect as a composer.

[12] Vitouš later said of his total experience with the band, "I enjoyed the beginning of it very much, but it turned into a little bit of a drag in the end because Joe Zawinul wanted to go in another direction.

In 1981, Vitouš performed at the Woodstock Jazz Festival held in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Creative Music Studio, and in 1984 he collaborated with fellow bassist Stanley Clarke.

Vitouš joined the ECM stable of performers in 1978 to play in a trio with guitarist Terje Rypdal and DeJohnette; he had most recently been with Arista Records.

ECM, founded in 1969, was developing a reputation for supporting genre-fluid releases that often freely mixed jazz, classical, and world music influences.

ECM's stable of artists would trade contributions back and forth on one anothers' often dense and intellectual albums in a fluent manner that attracted both criticism and praise.

Vitouš's classical, collaborative, and versatile bass and fluid give-and-take approach to band-leadership fit the sound of his new label and labelmates over the coming decades.

David R. Adler said in Allmusic of the bassist's performance in the solitary format, "Emergence showcases Miroslav Vitouš in a solo bass setting, with no overdubs.

It's austere and challenging, but Vitous is never ponderous; he sustains plenty of interest with his passion and staggering technique, dividing his time equally between pizzicato and arco statements.

"[3] In 2005, Vitouš released Miroslav Philhamonik, an orchestra and choir virtual instrument he recorded at Dvořák Hall inside the Rudolfinum in Prague.

[20] With Roy Ayers With Chick Corea With Larry Coryell With Herbie Mann With Steve Marcus With Adam Pierończyk With Enrico Rava and Franco D'Andrea With Terje Rypdal With Wayne Shorter With Joe Zawinul With others