Heads Of State – Search For Peace (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Heads Of State – Search For Peace (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:08:08 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Smoke Sessions Records

Heads of State, featuring four of the most respected and admired jazz artists of our time, releases its first recording Search for Peace. A 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. Now, their unique chemistry and musicianship is documented on Search for Peace. The album features selections by John Coltrane ( Impressions ), Jackie McLean ( 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 makes everything sound like magic.

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Heads of State – Four in One (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Heads of State – Four in One (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:22 minutes | 1,37 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Smoke Sessions

Heads 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.

The 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.”

Given 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.

While 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.

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