Here we go around the kidney stone!  At their own expense, the few but knowledgeable fans came (from as far away as Frankfurt) to see artists at Hinterhaus-Exile.  An extraordinary highlight was offered there behind the simple title “Music and Poetry” hid three energetic, outspoken LA performers who had managed to fit in a short but very substantial debut in the Rhein-Main area.  (Between Breman and Zurich)

An earsplitting introductory shout from the powerful but humorous Chuck Britt (a soulful guy), and off they went.  “That was ‘#21’”, trumpeted the vocal acrobat, as the well-balanced trio swelled, in effect, to fill all inner and outer space.

The rather subtle composer and trombonist, Michael Vlatkovich at times allowed glowing, tender themes to soar always focused in perfect synch with multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia.  Then again picturesque miniature sound studies would appear in flowing alternation with west coast swing, funk or “siren” sounds.  Unbridled joy in play is the distinguishing characteristic of Transvalue, a delight full of changes and surprises for the audience.

“Free transformation” unfolded with soft onomatopoeia, rattles, virtuoso wind-up “gebetsklapper” appropriated oil cans, and children’s playthings, after “underground and life” until temporarily reined-in Britt repeatedly whispered, then repeatedly hollered “Its Me!” From his voluminous chest resounded a deep base voice.

Translated from Wiesbaden Tagblatt, May 15, 1989

This... strange but intriguing production brings together poet Charles Butt, delivering his own work, and trombonist Michael Vlatkovich leading an ensemble for which he has composed music drawing on both jazz traditions and current ~ "new music" ideas.  Category just doesn't apply here.  If you free associate a little, this session might remind you of the meeting of jazz and poetry in murky, big city cellars during the days of the "beat generation." The sources of stimulus and the subjects may have changed, but this '80s incarnation of the genre is still socially aware, at its core.  Another album for a special audience.

Ottawa Citizen, October 14, 1988

The music is quite stimulating and it makes one wish for another Vlatkovich record. Charles Britt sounds like he had fun doing the LP - you should have as much fun listening.

RICHARD KAMINS – CADENCE

Britt writes simultaneously ridiculous/sublime prose and complements his angst-laden but passionate delivery with a backing crew of stellar musicians.

RICHIE UNTERBERGER – OPTION

Vlatkovich does and impressive job of matching the sound with the moods of the words. Britt’s impressions try to be the agent of catharsis and the listener can be (if in the proper frame of mind) moved by their violence and strange beauty.

CADENCE

Michael's hyper-textured compositions create a direct, exciting spatial relationship with the words of poet Chuck Britt. Chuck's narrative voice punctures the boundaries of jazz... frilly trombones to circus -like mayhem sounds trace the path led by Checks bellowing-whispering-lamenting vocalizing. His throaty words range from embraceably morbid to soft and angelic. Its depth is graphic.

LOOKING AHEAD (COASTAL JAZZ AND BLUES SOCIETY, VANVOUVER, BC)

Vlatkovich, saxist Scott Raffel and, especially, trumpeter Jim Knodle carried on long "conversations," rivaling Britt's poetry in expressiveness....Britt meanwhile, cut through the din, front and center, preaching and exhorting his own brand of cracked whimsy. Imagine a surrealistic Popeye up on a soapbox, eager to relate his dreams, and you get the idea.

BRUCE GREELEY - EARSHOT JAZZ

Vlatkovich draws inspiration from Ornette Coleman while Britt charges through text whispering, shouting and singing about sex death and other poetic themes.

HEATHER WISNER - PORTLAND DOWNTOWNER

Chuck Britt & Mike Vlatkovich with members of One Hand Clapping and Circular Cowboys AFLN Gallery 1 June 29. Having just listened to the long awaited re-release of Jack Kerouac's recordings, I was all set for a provocative night of poetry and jazz. Although by no means household names, poet Chuck Britt and composer/trombonist Mike V1atkovich, in performance with musicians from One Hand Clapping and Circular Cowboys, were sure to be interesting, if only by virtue of the venue. The AFLN Gallery is one of the few spots in Seattle that regularly books alternative jazz. Britt, who has recently moved to Clear Lake near Mount Vernon, is a big man, both in size and exuberance, and his voice is as deep and gruff as an old salty sailor. He has been collaborating with L.A. based Vlatkovich for over four years, and they have released a couple of records under the title Transvalue on their own Thank You label that features other stellar Southern California musicians such as Vinny Golia.

The connection to Kerouac is not a very apt one, for this was not some casual beatnik jam session. All the pieces were elaborately composed with even drummer Jeff Ferguson intently reading off a music stand much of the time. One composition seemed jerky and pointillistic while another was cubist or multi-directional. But perhaps that was somehow due to the influence of the paintings on the gallery wall. This is not to say that there was no improvisation, for the musicians were often left long stretches for soliloquies of their own, Vlatkovich, saxist Scott Raffel and, especially, trumpeter Jim Knodle carried on long "conversations," rivaling Britt's poetry in expressiveness, Ferguson, too, set aside his sheet music to come up with one of the best solos that I've heard him play, ending with a timpani-like manipulation of the drumhead. The leaders had a keen sense of theatrics, too, never allowing the musicians a straight solo without inserting plenty of odd percussion and whatnot straight from the kitchen and toy room: trombone whistles, a Quaker Oat box rattle, a jar of nuts, toy gun, siren and so forth. Unfortunately, the sound quality was not the best. Bassist Doug Lilla's amp continued to pick up some outside radio station all evening. Britt, meanwhile, cut through the din, front and center, preaching and exhorting his own brand of cracked whimsy. Imagine a surrealistic Popeye up on a soapbox, eager to relate his dreams, and you get the idea. At one point Britt even strode into the audience and individually berated us with his favorite litany, "No one can do me but ME!" He moaned a troubled love song, belched out a story about eating too much and finished off with some rough lines entitled "Anima Benediction." Hopefully, with Britt now living in the area, we'll soon be hearing more from him.

Bruce Greeley, Seattle

CHARLES BRITT's first album was a dark affair, filled with diatribes and black humor. There's more humor on TRANSVALUE BOOK II, TEAPOT IN A TEMPEST (Thank You MV-005), a bit more swing, and more organization. Michael Vlatkovich (too) is on hand as composer and arranger plus his usual band of musical cohorts including David Crigger (perc), Domenic Genova (b), Vinny Golia (woodwinds), Lou Gonzalez (tpt), Warren Hartman (kybds), Bill Masonheimer (tba), David Riddles (woodwinds), and Rory Stuart (el g). As much as the first effort drove me crazy, that's how much fun this LP is. I think it's because the humor in the music and lyrics comes through a lot clearer. There's a funky feel too much of the music on the 7 cuts (All the Little Worries/ Defiant Milk! Latent Monk/ The Father Stone/ Writer's Tool-Meal/ Rhapsodic Turtle/ For Mike - 41 :27). Britt growls, grumbles, yells, mumbles, moans, speaks his way through the words. He actually sings on a few pieces. The craziest one is entitled "Rhapsodic Turtle" an autobiographical trip over 13 years of the speaker's life. There's different music for each year including some fine tenor from Vinny Golia. I will spare you a psychological review of the words. The music is quite stimulating and it makes one wish for another Vlatkovich record. Charles Britt sounds like he had fun doing this LP - you should have as much fun listening.

Richard Kamins, Cadence, January 1989

I played composition #43 on Dec 2.  I like the album.  It is certainly a performance work.  You’ve got a great voice!  Tom Waits meets Captain Beefheart.  Works great with the music.  What a contrast!  It’s wacky and eccentric. I like the music too!  I like it best when tough, funky and funny.  I love the trombone!!

JACKI APPLE - HIGH PERFORMANCE

I play it a lot!  Will definitely play it on upcoming special.  #60 is the “Best Rap Song” of the August /September sweeps in Atlanta.

PATRICK DOWDEY – WREK, ATLANTA

Each is an outstanding player deserving of wide critical and popular acclaim, together this unit burns.

LA READER

...this Britt guy is out there, growlin' and shoutin' fairly unfathomable impressionistic (though not unhumorous) images of sex, morality and transcendence...

OPTION MAGAZINE

We enjoyed Vlatkovich’s 1st and this one too.  Nice to have art jazz and poetry together.  Wish there was more of it.

ROY DURFEE – KUNM-FM ALBUQERQUE

I have been listening to the trombonist, Michael Vlatkovich and the poet Charles Britt, the ensemble on Transvalue Book I, a production of Thankyou Records.  Everyday (or almost everyday) something is going on around Los Angeles, but once in a while something great goes on there.  Something like this blend (encounter), something like this existential poetry evocative of the furies of Bukowski, melting with the pure tones of the trombonist and his musician friends.  If you want to impress the current person in your life here is “the” recording to give.

J. Yves Picoron, Presse-Ocean, Nantes, France

Michael Vlatkovich – trombone / percussion

Chuck Sabatino – bass / percussion / voice

Tony Garcia – soprano / tenor saxophone

Devorah Vlatkovich - voice

David Crigger - drums

Vinny Golia - baritone saxophone

Michael Jacobsen - cello

Bobby Bradford - cornet

Bill Mays - piano

Trombonist Michael Vlatkovich's "9113" is a series, of avant garde duets by the trombonist with various partners. The record presents interesting insights into post-Coleman free jazz. Vlatkovich keeps the 10 performances concise and thematically on course. In The spirit of Coleman, his compositions are often jagged and humorous. "Complete With Black and White Cows," with David Crigger's drums, swings the most. A couple of tracks have a Duke Ellington flavor - "White, Black & While, and Mostly Brown" (featuring Bobby Bradford's plunger. muted cornet) and "Friends 9113" (with Bill Mays' Ellington-like piano).

Deborah, Vlatkovich's voice move's in eerie long tones against the voice-like trombone on two cuts. At the other emotional pole, the trombone and Vinny Golia's baritone saxophone spar angrily but humorously.

Vlatkovich's trombone ranges over as wide a terrain as his tunes, progressing from funky bop to slippery high-register pranks to walking bass lines to frog-like croaks. His two duets with electric bassist Chuck Sabatino bring in contemporary electronics and overdubbing. An interesting and frequently enjoyable record.

Owen Cordie, Raleigh News and Observer, March 9, 1986

Trombonist/composer Vlatkovich throws us a changeup this time around. In contrast to his last two orchestral albums, here he's performing duets with various players. Through the use of overdubbing, he creates voicings that retain the compositional emphasis on the blending of instruments.

There's often a quietly comic quality to Vlatkovich's music that's hard to put your finger on. The trombone seems oddly stoic in "All I See Are Fire trucks" while Tony Garcia's tenor sax dances around it. The picture I get is of Buster Keaton standing in a puddle of water with a trombone in his hand. By contrast, when Vinny Golia lends his baritone to "But My Chair, In The Cafeteria!" the two horns cavort like Laurel and Hardy, wrecking a hardware store.

The trombone/vocal duets strip down the structure to pure harmony and no movement, in some beautiful tone-matching. When Vlatkovich wants to tread on blues ground, he wisely engages cornetist Bobby Bradford, a supreme blues player. The use of space between notes and intervals is dislocated and Monkian, like sidestepping cow pies in a pasture. Appropriately, it's the exchange with pianist Bill Mays that is the most lyrical, yet it's also quirky and bluesy. Like his other albums, Vlatkovich lets us know on 9113 that there are a lot of different musics in him and they're just about all worth hearing. Like a good compilation record, this one will keep drawing you back and exposing more facets.

Kirk SiIsbee, LA Reader, February 7, 1986

Trombonist/composer Vlatkovich's third album is a set of 10 duets. But you don't have to be a trombonist to enjoy it: it's full of musical variety and strong playing. Stylistically it ranges from jazz to New Music, pairing the trombone with bass/percussion. Two saxophonists (Vinny Golia is one of them), voice. drums. cello, comet (Bobby Bradford), and piano. Highlights include two lovely eight part overdubbed trombone and voice pieces reminiscent of Ugeti's choral music (with Devorah Vlatkovich), an Ornette Coleman-like abstract blues duet with Bobby Bradford, and a final piece in which pianist Bill Mays demonstrates both stylistic breadth and a strong left hand.

Mark Sullivan, Option Magazine

For his 3rd LP, trombonist/composer Vlatkovich has stepped out of the larger ensembles featured on his previous efforts into a series of duets with various collaborators. The pieces featuring Devorah Vlatkovich ("When Do Clowns Cry?", "Where Hello Means Goodbye") and bassist/percussionist Chuck Sabatino ("Fiends With An Are". "Serhemple Pog") utilize overdubbing. The former are somewhat aimless floating tone poems while the latter are in the form of miniature suites with more than a little humor. ("Pog" is a bit overdone in that department as well as being too long.) 3 of the remaining 6 cuts feature improvised sections (spotlighting call-response approaches) directly developing from the ending with tightly structured and executed heads. Of these, the title cut, with the rather inventive arco stylings of cellist Michael Jacobsen, is particularly invigorating. "They Are...1 Am/All I See Are Fire trucks" features two juxtaposed strategies. The first deals with held tones and slowly developing melodic material that appears totally composed, while the second heads into more aggressive (and improvised) interaction. (Featured here is the rather nondescript soprano/tenor work of Tony Garcia). The remaining 2 tunes are more open, with the bluesy "9113: White, Black & White and Mostly Brown" being the album's highlight. Cornetist Bobby Bradford is in excellent growling form as he pokes and jabs with Vlatkovich. The leader's loose broad-toned stylings are also heard to good advantage on "Fiends", the title cut and "Complete With Black And White Cows" (featuring drummer David Crigger).

Milo Fine, Jazz World, 19 #73 Vol. 17

The talented trombonist/percussionist breezes through nine ambitious duets with the likes of Vinny Golia and Bobby Bradford. "Fiends with an are" and "9113" are tastefully over-dubbed with Chuck Sabatino's bass and percussion; Golia's and Bradford's pieces are fascinating, but don't look for any tunes to snap your fingers to. For adventurous ears only.

Be-Bop And Beyond, March/April 1986

While Vlatkovich's LP is a series of duets and Harris' features a fleshed-out septet, both trombonist/composers show an interest in varied approaches for composition/arrangements. Harris is rooted in a Jazzier swinging ~ mold overall (his music, as well as his playing. tends to swagger more), while Vlatkovich opts for a more constrictive outlook. Though he can, when the situation calls for it, cook quite heartily. Vlatkovich touches on rather neo-contemporary classical areas with "Clowns," "Hello" (featuring Devorah) and the ''They Are. . . Firetrucks" medley (with Garcia). While Harris heads into a similar milieu with "D.A.S.H:' and "Journey." Though Harris' rather haunting conception for the former features busy percussion from Moye, subtle brush work from Higgins and lovely interaction between the horns and cello is very engaging, it doesn't sustain interest for its eight minutes. The latter a somewhat free-floating soundscape with a decided scenic ambiance and another lush cello line (this time of a mournful nature) fares better. Vlatkovich's overdubbed pieces with his wife are rather aimless tone poems and the exercise with Garcia is somewhat flat, particularly me first half which features half tones and slowly developing melodic material.

More overt Jazz structures produce the impetus for Vlatkovich's "Cows," "Chair," "9113," "Brown" and "Friends" and Harris' "High," "Faces" and "Lorna." The latter Harris piece is a lush ballad that features the leader's most restrained solo on the LP, though the structure, like "O.A.S,H." wears out its welcome "High'~ and "Faces" are the album's highlights -- complex arrangements executed with flowing grace, Harris creates very distinctive harmonies wrapped in effective voicings throughout the LP, but here, he utilizes vacillating change-up structures that spotlight the harmonies to greater effect. Both have a Latinish feel though" Faces' also digs into neo-Bop terrain. They also boast strong Harris outings featuring his attractive, blustery, loose, and sometimes a bit off-0the-wall stylings. (Adept solos from Dara on "High," featuring effective sparse bursts, and Holland on "Faces" are also of particular interest.) The first three aforementioned Vlatkovich pieces (with Crigger, Golia and Jacobsen respectively as the leader's foils) present call-response improvised dialogues directly developing from and ending with tightly structured and executed heads. All three are quite energetic with Jacobsen's inventive arco cello work on the title cut standing out. The other two tunes featuring Bradford and Mays respectively, are more open in conception with the former being the album's highlight. Bradford is in excellent growling form as he pokes and jabs with the leader during this six-minute Bluesy exploration. The remaining piece(s) on each album regretfully fall into varying amounts of pretension. Harris' attractive intricate harmonies are overwhelmed by the jive semi-singing street-talk chanting that is the focus of the loose rocking "24," And Vlatkovich's strong playing on "Fiends" (his somewhat loose broad, tones stylings are also heard to their best advantage on the title cut and "Cows") is not quite enough to salvage the cute over-dubbed miniature suite (featuring Sabatino) who is also on hand for the even cuter "Pog," which would have been more aptly entitled "Pog" as it tends to do just that). , Overall, Harris' outing is the more substantial of the two, though Vlatkovich's has its moments.

Milo Fine, Cadence, February 1986

Michael Vlatkovich – trombone / percussion

Devorah Vlatkovich – piano / voice / percussion

Lou Gonzalez - trumpet

Mark Underwood - trumpet

Bill Masonheimer - tuba

Tony Garcia - woodwinds

David Riddles - woodwinds

Michael Jacobsen - cello

David Crigger - drums

Gary Denton - drums

Harlan Goldberg -drums

Vlatkovich is an expressive trombonist from Glendale who favors red shoes and a green horn. Like his debut album of last year, this one has a distinctive compositional approach. Vlatkovich has struck a good balance between polyphonic improvising and structural concerns. "Franny Bee" is a plaintive trombone banquet and "Happpy Birthday" a little march with stunning harmonic backdrops. Devorah Vlatkovich's piano serves as rhythmic underpinning throughout but on the duet title track she holds up her half of the sky admirably

Kirk Silsbee

Two albums too good to get away without a mention trombonist Michael Vlatkovich on his own label, formed in 1981. Vlatkovich was born in 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended the St. Louis Institute of Music on a scholarship and later studied at North Texas State and with Bernard Scheider, principal trombonist for the St. Louis Symphony. Since 1973, Vlatkovich has been based in the Los Angeles area, where he free-lances in all kinds of musical situations, as do the other musicians on these two albums.

Vlatkovich is an adventurous and convincing soloist who says, "I want the music I create to exist as an. ever present, ever changing environment of audible and inaudible sounds where an intermingling of emotions will take place. Once experienced, never lost. I hope to rekindle emotions which all of us know and feel but sometimes fail to admit."

MV00I is a fresh and distinctive fusion of avant-garde, jazz, and blues, liberally spiced with humor and strongly played.

MV-002 employs a similar cast and instrumentation but with the addition of Devorah Vlatkovich on piano, playing in a somewhat minimalist style. The skeletal compositions generate an organized spontaneity that is quite striking because the music is allowed to develop in an atmosphere of considerable freedom. A feature of Vlatkovich's writing that pops up here and there throughout both albums is his use of short rhythmic horn figures to prod the ensemble in one or another direction.

The two discs differ somewhat due to the presence of the piano in the second. Of the two, I tend to prefer MV001, although the beautiful performance of The One That Never Stayed on MVuu2 is the best thing on both albums. The recording quality is certainly very good, with strings and woodwinds offsetting a rather brassy mix quite effectively. “

Keith Knox, Jazz Forum

Michael Vlatkovich – trombone / compositions

Lou Gonzalez - trumpet

Roy Poper - trumpet

Bill Masonheimer - tuba

Jay Hutson - woodwinds

David Riddles - woodwinds

Toni Markus - violin

Michael Jacobsen - cello

Gary Denton - drums

Harlan Goldberg - drums

New music from an adventurous and facile trombonist.

Doug Ramsey

Vlatkovich is a free jazz trombonist and his debut album puts him in local company. Though his open-ended compositions invite turbulent, often congested ensemble tie-ups. it's his rich, harmonic voicings that stand out. This is not an easy record to find the handle on and it demands full attention. For the most part, the demand is justified.  ‘5S0-8080' is a group roar that brings to mind a Monkian traffic jam. It's a little too congested for its own good in the stop-and-go vortex. A funkier rhythm section could have capitalized on the open stretches, and a bass is sorely needed on this album. 'Wav Down Home is Vlatkovich’s best show of strength as an instrumentalist and perhaps as composer The multiphonics on his restrained tailgate intro are full and vivid frontline voices trombone, trumpet, saxophone and tuba are sumptuous and offer the strongest nod to traditional jazz. Gary Denton's shuffle march beats hold up more than his share of the show.  'Color of Sound' is all surrealist harmony and no rhythm. Michael Jacobsen's cello rolls along like a lazy stream with complementing tributaries from trombone, Bill Roper's trumpet and David Riddles' tenor sax.

Kirk Silsbee MAR 4—MAR 17

There are a lot of musicians today who subscribe to the adage "Let the music speak far itself”, and this statement rings true in many instances. But I think when someone takes it upon himself to release an album and he and most of the other participants are relatively unknown to the general listening audience (Toni Markus being the only familiar name listed here. having toured and recorded with Gunter Hampel) then some sort of biographical data is in order. This of course is only a minor flaw in an otherwise satisfying collection of performances where group effort takes precedence over individual virtuosity. Here it is imperative that the players involved have the strength and maturity to restrain their egos and channel their energies in a common direction.

Trombonist, composer Michael Pierre Vlatkovich has been successful in fashioning some unique charts that not only challenge his able sidemen, but also the ability of the listener to determine what is written and what is improvised. There is a certain amount of stiffness present, but not enough to impede the natural flow of the music.   Although it is difficult to scrutinize the improvisational capabilities of the individual players, I think it is safe to assume that they are all more than competent, Vlatkovich proving to be a convincing soloist, with good chops and a big, clear tone. If he continues in his present direction, I will anxiously be looking forward to his next offering.

Gerard Futrick, Coda Magazine

Take 10 musicians.  Make sure they have some reading and jazz background. Introduce structural parameters, sort of like meaty skeletons which the musicians (in different combinations) will fill in. Stress cooperative interaction with an emphasis on the whole in terms of interplay rather than on individual soloing per se. Also, stress lyrical modes of Improvisation and mainly floating free time. And there, more or less, one has this attractive little album. Trombonist/composer Vlatkovich's recording debut is only marred by the occasional cutesy stiffness of the shuffle "Way Way Way Way Way Down Home." It is enhanced by the empathy of the musicians and the curious electronic sound of Michael Jacobsen's cello.

Milo Fine, OP Magazine

MICHEAL PIERRE VLATKOVICH is a trombonist, but judging from his self-titled release on Thank You records (MVOOI) he is also a composer and arranger of some ability. We can hear reminders of Mingus, Braxton, Ornette, even touches of Ellington in his constructions, but if they are indeed influences, they are more of the heart as none of Mr. Vlatkovich's music as presented on this release is cloning. It is very original free compositions, brilliantly conceived and strongly executed. In some ways the music on the five compositions (580 8085/ Eaton Canyon or Was It Eat On Can You?! Way Way Way Down Hamel Color Of Sound! Out Of The Wall Into The Night) reminds me of Ornette's "Free Jazz" for double quartet - it evokes that structured spontaneity though the sculpturing here has more differentiations between instruments. How much of this is composed I don't know. It seems obvious to me that there is a compositional framework, but it breathes and allows a great free sense while being structurally tight. The improvisations are fresh and articulate, there is great flexibility, and swing, and challenge runs constant to these ears. It's nice to know artists are still being heard in the United States, albeit obscure.

The fact that few will probably hear this and less acknowledge it matters little in artistic terms. This record exists - the art is there. Whether or not the effort is made to receive it has no bearing on its artistic value. At best Cadence is a service and we will be filling that service in the best possible manner if we can help bring this music to its audience. Mr. Vlatkovich has done his part, now we have tried to do our part - the rest is up to you. Make this a gift to yourself.  The inspiration this record has brought to me has left no easy segue for personnel: so here it is. Mr. Vlatkovich works with a quartet, quintet or septet made up from the following superior musicians: Lou Gonzalez, Roy Poper (tpts.1- Bill Masonheimer (tuba), Jay Hutson. David Riddles (woodwinds), Toni Markus (vIn), Mike Jacobsen (cello), Gary Denton or Harlan Goldberg (dms). Good stuff that gets gooder and gooder.

Cadence, January 1982

In this music one can hear reminders of Mingus, Braxton, Ornette and even touches of Ellington, Brilliantly conceived and strongly executed.

"1982 Editor's Choice, New Releases"

Bob Rusch, CADENCE

Michael Pierre Vlatkovich has it more together but maybe less visionary for a contemporary big band date, for which he has composed all the impressive material. I didn’t know they had this much going in Glendale.  Worth a listen.

Rafi Zabor, Musician Magazine

Two albums too good to get away without a mention trombonist Michael Vlatkovich on his own label, formed in 1981. Vlatkovich was born in 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended the St. Louis Institute of Music on a scholarship and later studied at North Texas State and with Bernard Scheider, principal trombonist for the St. Louis Symphony. Since 1973, Vlatkovich has been based in the Los Angeles area, where he free-lances in all kinds of musical situations, as do the other musicians on these two albums.

Vlatkovich is an adventurous and convincing soloist who says, "I want the music I create to exist as an. ever present, ever changing environment of audible and inaudible sounds where an intermingling of emotions will take place. Once experienced, never lost. I hope to rekindle emotions which all of us know and feel but sometimes fail to admit."

MV00I is a fresh and distinctive fusion of avant-garde, jazz, and blues, liberally spiced with humor and strongly played.

MV-002 employs a similar cast and instrumentation but with the addition of Devorah Vlatkovich on piano, playing in a somewhat minimalist style. The skeletal compositions generate an organized spontaneity that is quite striking because the music is allowed to develop in an atmosphere of considerable freedom. A feature of Vlatkovich's writing that pops up here and there throughout both albums is his use of short rhythmic horn figures to prod the ensemble in one or another direction.

The two discs differ somewhat due to the presence of the piano in the second. Of the two, I tend to prefer MV001, although the beautiful performance of The One That Never Stayed on MVuu2 is the best thing on both albums. The recording quality is certainly very good, with strings and woodwinds offsetting a rather brassy mix quite effectively. “

Keith Knox, Jazz Forum

The final two albums are by trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, a St. Louis native who has shifted his base of operations to Southern California. Both "Michael Pierre Vlatkovich" (Thankyou MV00l) and "The One That Never Stayed" (Thankyou MV002) employ roughly the same personnel. They apparently come from 1981/83. This is accessible avant-garde music, containing both movement and solid form, yet a freedom that never gets chaotic. Vlatkovich's burly trombone stands out, as do such players as trumpeters Lou Gonzalez, Roy Poper or Mark Underwood. Woodwind players Jay Hutson. David Riddles or Tony Garcia, tuba player Bill Masonheimer and some rhythm players. MV001 4 stars; MV002 3.5 stars.

Will Smith, Jazz Sounds, Sunday World-Herald, June 9, 1985