The great Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš returns once more to the music of Weather Report, the group he cofounded with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter in 1970. Vitouš and his band revisit well known Weather Report repertoire including Birdland, Seventh Arrow, Scarlet Woman and Morning Lake along with Acrobat’s Issues, a piece which the first Weather Report lineup played but never record. Interspersed along the way are recent blues tunes from Vitouš’s pen. The band, driven by the astounding double drumming of Gerald Cleaver and Nasheet Waits, is energetic and daring, juxtaposing time playing and rhythmically free pulses, with Vitouš’s arco bass playing sometimes sounding like a third horn in between the two saxophones.

This album captures an electrifying live performance from Dutch jazz keyboardist Jasper van’t Hof and his band: Bob Malach on sax, Miroslav Vitous on bass and drummer Alphonse Mouzon, recorded in Montreux in July 1979. The fusion-laden material spotlights the musicians at their best: a pyrotechnical display where everyone solos and all the solos burn, recorded with a beautifully clear, clean live sound.

"Super Nova" is the twelfth album by Wayne Shorter, recorded in 1969 and released on the Blue Note label. The album features five originals by Shorter and an arrangement of "Dindi" by Antônio Carlos Jobim. "Water Babies", "Capricorn" and "Sweet Pea" were originally recorded in a more traditional jazz setting in 1967 during the sessions with the Second Miles Davis Quintet that would be released in 1976 on the album "Water Babies". Chick Corea appears on drums rather than his typical role as a keyboardist.

Weather Report started out as a jazz equivalent of what the rock world in 1970 was calling a "supergroup". But unlike most of the rock supergroups, this one not only kept going for a good 15 years, it more than lived up to its billing, practically defining the state of the jazz-rock art throughout almost all of its run. Mysterious Traveller is the band's fourth studio album.

This is an obscure Alphonse Mouzon recording, which, along with Mind Transplant, accounts for Mouzon's best work as a solo artist. The presence of former Weather Report band mate Miroslav Vituous provides for much of the session's excitement ("The Light" being a standout). Fusion vets Philip Catherine, Stu Goldberg, and Joachim Kuhn also turn in fine performances, as does the relatively unknown Bob Malik. There is a great deal of integrity on this session, a quality that was often missing from Mouzon sessions both before and after this. Highly recommended.

Between 1979 and 1982, the Miroslav Vitouš Group was the primary outlet for the abundant improvisational skills of leader Vitouš and John Surman, exemplified by this 1981 release. Vitouš and Surman were well-matched in several ways, with roots and influences that extended beyond jazz, a love of playing freely and a commitment to using the full sound potential of their respective instruments: Surman sings at the top of the baritone sax’s range to match Vitouš’s fiddle-like arco flourishes on the double bass. Drummer Jon Christensen shared their passion for playing, as did Kenny Kirkland, only 24 at the time of this session, on his way to becoming one of modern jazz’s outstanding pianists. Repertoire includes classic Vitouš pieces, collective improvising and an early version of Surman’s relentlessly driving Number Six.