Heads Up International is a jazz record label that was formed in Cleveland, Ohio. It was bought by the Concord Music Group in 2005.

History

The label got its name from a jazz group that Dave Love formed while attending

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. After college, Love became musical director for

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

. Later, he recorded an album with his band and soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman. While trying to sell the album to record labels, he took a position as National Director of Sales & Marketing for Oxymoron P&D, where executives convinced him to start his own label with his album. Using Oxymoron for distribution, Love began Heads Up International in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The label's first album was ''The Energy of the Chance'' by Dave Liebman. In 2000, Heads Up International merged with Telarc International Corporation. In 2005 the two companies were acquired by the

Concord Music Group Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings ( Fearless Records, Concord R ...

. The label's roster includes

Mindi Abair Mindi Abair (born May 23, 1969) is an American saxophonist, vocalist, author, and National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization that puts on the Grammy Awards show. Her solo career has produced ten N ...

, Richard Elliot, Fourplay, Mike Stern, and Peter White. Its catalog includes Stanley Clarke,

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, Earl Klugh, Jeff Lorber,

Spyro Gyra Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from ''Spirogyra'', a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenstein ...

, and

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music, gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood University, Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received seve ...

Special releases

The Heads Up Africa series was begun to mark the tenth anniversary of the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. Musicians such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, and Oliver Mtukudzi have recorded for the label. In 2007, Heads Up released the final albums by Michael Brecker (''

Pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

'') and

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

(''Brown Street''). Heads Up began its 18th year with recordings by

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

, Esperanza Spalding,

, and Victor Wooten. For more than 12 years, the label has produced enhanced CDs with video, biographies, and other bonus material. Heads Up was among the first labels to release music in the Super Audio CD (

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple aud ...

) format and the first to incorporate enhanced CD technology with SACDs.

Awards and honors

Heads Up International's musicians have appeared on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Contemporary Jazz, Traditional Jazz, and World Music charts. The label's awards include the ''Billboard'' Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year (''Dreams & Desires'' by

Roberto Perera Roberto Perera (born 1952) is an Uruguayan jazz harpist, in the smooth jazz and fusion styles. Born in 1952 in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, Perera was barely 12 years old when his mother enrolled him in a music conservatory where he se ...

), the

AFIM The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, North ...

's Independent Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year (''Love's Silhouette'' by

Pieces of a Dream Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * Pieces (video game), ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game f ...

) a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination in 2004 ('' Time Squared'' by the Yellowjackets), a Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album in 2005 ('' Raise Your Spirit Higher'' by Ladysmith Black Mambazo), a Grammy nomination for Best Surround Sound Award in the first surround sound category at the Grammys (''Raise Your Spirit Higher'' by Ladysmith Black Mambazo), ten additional Grammy nominations for

, Mike Stern, the ''

JazzWeek ''JazzWeek,'' is a jazz magazine that was co-founded by Ed Trefzger in August 2001. ''Jazzweek'' publishes industry news and a weekly top 100 ranking of music played by jazz radio stations. Collection Method Originally, the company gathered its o ...

'' Radio Programmers Album of the Year Award for two consecutive years (''Word of Mouth Revisited'' and ''The Word Is Out!'' by Jaco Pastorius), and Gibson Guitar's Best Female Jazz Guitarist (

Joyce Cooling Joyce Cooling is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She has performed with Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, Mark Murphy, Al Jarreau, and Charlie Byrd. Music career Cooling was born into a musical family. Her mother, a music teacher, ...

). Heads Up artists have regularly captured the No. 1 position in national radio airplay.

Roster

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

* Acoustic Alchemy * Ann Armstrong *

The Bad Plus ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wi ...

Walter Beasley Walter Beasley is an American saxophonist, a professor of music at the Berklee College of Music, and founder of Affable Publishing and Affable Records. Biography Beasley grew up in El Centro, California. By the age of 13 he was singing in Span ...

* Kenny Blake *

Bona Fide In human interactions, good faith ( la, bona fides) is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case ...

* Michael Brecker *

Caribbean Jazz Project Caribbean Jazz Project was a Latin jazz band founded in 1993. The original group featured Dave Samuels, Paquito D'Rivera, and Andy Narell. After their second album, D'Rivera and Narell left the group, although both returned as guest stars. Under ...

Citrus Sun Jean-Paul Maunick (born 19 February 1957, Mauritius), known by his stage name Bluey is a British guitarist, bandleader, composer and record producer. He has led the British acid jazz band Incognito since its formation in 1979. With Incognito, ...

* Stanley Clarke * Richie Cole *

* Paquito D'Rivera *

Stefán Dickerson Stefán is a common first name in Iceland. According to Icelandic custom, people are generally referred to by first and middle names and patronyms are used if disambiguation is required. ''Stefán'' is the Icelandic version of the Greek name Step ...

Candy Dulfer Candy Dulfer (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch jazz and pop saxophonist. She is the daughter of jazz saxophonist Hans Dulfer. She began playing at age six and founded her band Funky Stuff when she was fourteen. Her debut album ''Saxuality'' ( ...

* Fourplay * Tony Gable & 206 *

Carlos Guedes Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Danish film * ''Incognito'' (1997 film), an American crime ...

* Henry Johnson * Ladysmith Black Mambazo *

Chuck Loeb Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay. Early years and education Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At a ...

* Jeff Lorber * Bobby Lyle * Miriam Makeba * Hugh Masekela * Joe McBride *

Marion Meadows Marion Meadows is an Americans, American soprano saxophonist and composer, mainly in smooth jazz. He was born in West Virginia and grew up mainly in Connecticut. His first album as a leader was ''For Lovers Only'' in 1990. He has had several oth ...

* Oliver Mtukudzi * Najee * Andy Narell * Maceo Parker * Jaco Pastorius Big Band *

Doc Powell Doc Powell is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was born and raised in Spring Valley, New York. He attended college at University of Charleston. Career He has worked with Wilson Pickett, who chose him to be his musical director. He has ...

Sakésho Sakésho is a jazz quartet based band in France. Sakésho is based in the beguine, the polyrhythmic music of the French Caribbean. The band members are Mario Canonge (piano), Michel Alibo (bass) and Jean-Philippe Fanfant (drums); all born in the ...

Diane Schuur Diane Joan Schuur (born December 10, 1953), nicknamed "Deedles", is an American jazz singer and pianist. As of 2015, Schuur had released 23 albums, and had extended her jazz repertoire to include essences of Latin, gospel, pop and country music ...

* Eric Scortia * Richard Smith * Esperanza Spalding *

* Mike Stern *

Nestor Torres Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...

Two Siberians Two Siberians is a Russian music duo composed of Artyom Yakushenko (electric violin) and Yuriy Matveyev (electric guitar). In Russia, their music has been produced under the name White Fort (russian: Белый Острог, ''Belyi Ostrog'') ...

* Gerald Veasley *

Pamela Williams Pamela Williams (born 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist. Williams exhibits diverse musical elements in her repertoire, including nu Jazz, funk, R&B, house, Latin and pop. She is also known for her visual art. Biography Williams gre ...

* Victor Wooten * Yellowjackets *

Zap Mama Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Mam ...

Alexander Zonjic Alexander Zonjic (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Зоњић; born April 30, 1951) is a flutist born in Windsor, Ontario, who performs both light jazz and classical compositions in the United States, based in Detroit, Michigan. He is the s ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control American record labels Jazz record labels Concord Music Group