{"title":"Heads of State","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"heads-of-state-four-in-one-cd","title":"Heads of State - Four in One CD","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 700px; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3350958499\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=333333\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/headsofstatejazz.bandcamp.com\/album\/four-in-one\"\u003eFour in One by Heads of State\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e8-panel Digipak Album\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e“The music on this disc could hardly be more vital…With his plaintive tone and persistent attack, the saxophonist Gary Bartz comes across as Charlie Parker by way of Sonny Rollins. If there is anything blue in a bebop tune he’ll find it. Moose the Mooche and Sippin’ at Bells are renewed by his sagacity. The pianist Larry Willis is by turns pensive and persuasive. Al Foster on drums and David Williams on bass keep it tight and driving.”\u003cbr\u003e\n— Chris Pearson, The Times (UK)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e“Deep into a ‘post-bop’ age now, some may wonder, ‘What was bop?” Heres an answer. Newcomers in the mid-60s, Bartz and company were a generation removed but cut from its matrix. Retuming to their roots here, it’s easy to see where their home Is.”\u003cbr\u003e\n— John McDonough, Downbeat\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e***\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eHeads of State made their debut in 2015 with SEARCH FOR PEACE, recorded just months after they played together for the first time as a quartet at Smoke Jazz Club in New York City. Now, with another year of playing together under their collective belts (on top of the nearly five decades of relationships shared by the various members), they return with a magnificent new album FOUR IN ONE.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eThe title comes from the lesser-known Thelonious Monk composition that opens the record, but it also succinctly captures the group’s growing spirit and identity that have been forged by an all-star band that was originally meant to be a one-time thing. “We’re trying as best as we know how to establish our own identity,” Willis explains, “and not sound like a jam session band.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eGiven the impeccable taste and wealth of experience of all four members, there was very little chance of a “jam session” sensibility emerging in any case, but in the short time they’ve been working together the Heads of State have developed a lithe and lively group sound that’s equal parts burning and elegant, sharp-edged and gregarious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eWhile the bands’ first album was thrilling because it brought together four revered and masterful musicians in one place for the first time ever, Four in One may be even more exciting because it announces their intention to continue to collaborate and evolve together. Given what happens when these four join forces, that’s one enticing prospect.\u003cbr\u003e\ncredits\u003cbr\u003e\nreleased March 24, 2017\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eGary Bartz – alto \u0026amp; soprano saxophones\u003cbr\u003e\nLarry Willis – piano\u003cbr\u003e\nDavid Williams – bass\u003cbr\u003e\nAl Foster – drums\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eRecorded Live at Sear Sound, Studio C,\u003cbr\u003e\nNew York City on November 1, 2016\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eProduced by Paul Stache\u003cbr\u003e\nAssociate Producer: Damon Smith\u003cbr\u003e\nRecorded by Chris Allen\u003cbr\u003e\nStudio Assistant: Owen Mulholland\u003cbr\u003e\nMixed by Chris Allen\u003cbr\u003e\nMastered by Sterling Sound\u003cbr\u003e\nPhotography by John Abbott\u003cbr\u003e\nLiner Notes by Shaun Brady\u003cbr\u003e\nDesign by Damon Smith \u0026amp; Paul Stache\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eLarry Willis appears courtesy of High Note Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eExecutive Producers: Frank Christopher \u0026amp; Paul Stache\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Smoke Sessions Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56382105649534,"sku":"SSR-1702-CD","price":10.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0962\/4161\/5230\/files\/SSR-1702-CD.jpg?v=1760095212"},{"product_id":"heads-of-state-search-for-peace-cd","title":"Heads of State - Search for Peace CD","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 700px; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=650825837\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=333333\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/headsofstatejazz.bandcamp.com\/album\/search-for-peace\"\u003eSearch for Peace by Heads of State\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e“They work together so impressively, in the general Coltrane-McCoy Tyner manner, that it is hard to think of another band of this style to touch them today. The way they pick up fleeting clues from one another, like a four-way conversation full of allusions, is quite mind-boggling.”\u003cbr\u003e\n— Dave Gelly, The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e“On their first outing as a band, their high degree of musical telepathy makes them sound like they’ve been playing together for years. A collective consciousness oozes from these tracks, echoes of the giants with whom they apprenticed, including Tyner, Miles, Monk, Jackie McLean and Sonny Rollins, among others….Herein lie lessons not available in any jazz studies program.”\u003cbr\u003e\n— Allen Morrison, JazzTimes\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e#1 JazzWeek radio chart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e***\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eHeads of State, featuring four of the most respected and admired jazz artists of our time, releases its first recording SEARCH FOR PEACE.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eA band over 50 years in the making, Gary Bartz, Larry Willis, Buster Williams, and Al Foster had performed together countless times in different combinations and contexts over their storied careers, but it wasn’t until September 2014 that they appeared as a quartet. The occasion that night was a tribute to McCoy Tyner, and the results were so inspired and the response so overwhelming that they knew right away they had something worth keeping. As pianist Larry Willis puts it, “I don’t think there are any bands that are doing quite what we’re doing right now.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eNow, their unique chemistry and musicianship is documented on SEARCH FOR PEACE. It features selections by John Coltrane (“Impressions”), Jackie\u003cbr\u003e\nMcLean (“Capuchin Swing”), Benny Carter (“Summer Serenade”), Billy Strayhorn (“Lotus Blossom”) and, of course, the moving title track by Tyner (“Search for Peace”) Gary Bartz contributes two compositions (“Uncle Bubba” which Gary performed with McCoy and “Soulstice”) and there are two standards (“Crazy She Calls Me” and “I Wish I Knew” which Tyner famously recorded with Coltrane). It is a well-chosen and balanced set, but the selections are somewhat beside the point; this all-star quartet\u003cbr\u003e\nmakes everything sound like magic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003ereleased July 10, 2015\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eGary Bartz – saxophones\u003cbr\u003e\nLarry Willis – piano\u003cbr\u003e\nBuster Williams – bass\u003cbr\u003e\nAl Foster – drums\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eRecorded Live at Sear Sound, Studio C,\u003cbr\u003e\nNew York City on January 11, 2015\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eProduced by Paul Stache\u003cbr\u003e\nAssociate Producer: Damon Smith\u003cbr\u003e\nRecorded by Teddy Tuthill\u003cbr\u003e\nStudio Assistant: Grant Valentine\u003cbr\u003e\nMixed at Stache Sound Studio, Duke Ellington Mansion, NYC\u003cbr\u003e\nby Roman Klun \u0026amp; Paul Stache\u003cbr\u003e\nMastered by Roman Klun\u003cbr\u003e\nPhotography by Jimmy Katz\u003cbr\u003e\nLiner Notes by Ted Panken\u003cbr\u003e\nDesign by Damon Smith \u0026amp; Paul Stache\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eLarry Willis appears courtesy of High Note Records\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eExecutive Producers: Frank Christopher \u0026amp; Paul Stache\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Smoke Sessions Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56382107025790,"sku":"SSR-1506-CD","price":10.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0962\/4161\/5230\/files\/SSR-1506-CD.jpg?v=1760095260"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0962\/4161\/5230\/collections\/SSR-1506-CD.jpg?v=1774388103","url":"https:\/\/8merch.shop\/collections\/heads-of-state.oembed","provider":"8Merch Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}