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“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.”
— Dave Gelly, The Guardian
“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.”
— Allen Morrison, JazzTimes
#1 JazzWeek radio chart
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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. It 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.
released July 10, 2015
Gary Bartz – saxophones
Larry Willis – piano
Buster Williams – bass
Al Foster – drums
Recorded Live at Sear Sound, Studio C,
New York City on January 11, 2015
Produced by Paul Stache
Associate Producer: Damon Smith
Recorded by Teddy Tuthill
Studio Assistant: Grant Valentine
Mixed at Stache Sound Studio, Duke Ellington Mansion, NYC
by Roman Klun & Paul Stache
Mastered by Roman Klun
Photography by Jimmy Katz
Liner Notes by Ted Panken
Design by Damon Smith & Paul Stache
Larry Willis appears courtesy of High Note Records
Executive Producers: Frank Christopher & Paul Stache
