Heads Up International
Encyclopedia
Heads Up International is an independent jazz and contemporary instrumental label located in Cleveland, Ohio
.
Founded in 1990 by Dave Love, Heads Up International has gained international recognition for its contribution to the world of contemporary instrumental music. In that time, Heads Up artists and releases have consistently landed on Billboard
s Contemporary Jazz, Traditional Jazz and World Music charts, and have garnered numerous industry awards, including Billboard's Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year (Roberto Perera’s Dreams & Desires), the AFIM's Independent Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year (Pieces of a Dreams’ Love’s Silhouette), a GRAMMY nomination in 2004 (Yellowjackets' Time Squared), a GRAMMY Award for Best Traditional World Music Album in 2005 (Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Raise Your Spirit Higher), a GRAMMY nomination for Best Surround Sound Award in the first ever surround sound category at the GRAMMYs (Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Raise Your Spirit Higher), ten additional GRAMMY nominations for such groups as Spyro Gyra
, Mike Stern
, and others, JazzWeek's Radio Programmers Album Of The Year Award for two consecutive years (Jaco Pastorius Big Band's Word of Mouth Revisited and The Word Is Out!), and Gibson Guitar's Best Female Jazz Guitarist (Joyce Cooling). In addition to the awards and accolades, Heads Up artists have regularly captured the #1 slot in national radio airplay.
Heads Up International has also been a forerunner in innovative recording technology. For more than 12 years, the label has offered enhanced CDs with videos, artist bios and other bonus material. Heads Up was also among the first to release in the Super Audio CD
5.1 Surround Sound (SACD) format and the first to incorporate enhanced CD technology with SACDs. In 1996, Love made the commitment to release selected titles as Enhanced CDs. “We were the first contemporary jazz label to fully commit to this new format,” he says. “Along with artist profiles and music videos, we introduced a new dimension in marketing by providing the user with additional music videos, sound bytes and biographies of our artists as an added value. In 2001, the company began releasing recordings in the SACD 5.1 Surround Sound Audio format,” states Love.
Dave Love, the president of Heads Up, attributes the label's success to its roster of fine artists.
The label takes its name from the jazz group that Love – a trumpet player since elementary school – formed while attending North Texas State University on a jazz studies, arranging, and composition scholarship. After college, Love became musical director for Dr. Donald Byrd. Later, he recorded an album with his band and soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman
. While shopping the release to record labels, Love took a position as the National Director of Sales & Marketing for Oxymoron P&D, Inc., whose principals convinced him to start his own label with the release.
Using Oxymoron for distribution, Love began Heads Up International, Ltd., out of Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The labels' maiden voyage was the Liebman recording, The Energy of the Chance.
In 2000, Heads Up International merged with Telarc International Corporation
. This strategic alliance has helped Heads Up to further its distribution worldwide and tap into the financial resources necessary to take the label to a higher level of strength and visibility within the industry and in the consumer market. In 2005 the two entities were acquired by the Concord Music Group
.
The Heads Up Africa series, a critically acclaimed collection that spotlights some of southern Africa's finest vocalists and instrumentalists, was launched to mark the tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid. Artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo
, Miriam Makeba
, Oliver Mtukudzi, Hugh Masekela
and other top talent from this musically and culturally rich part of the world have graced numerous recordings for the company.
In 2007, Heads Up was honored to release the final recordings of two jazz giants who have since passed on, Michael Brecker
(Pilgrimage) and Joe Zawinul
(Brown Street).
Heads Up kicks off its 18th year with label debut recordings by Victor Wooten
, Esperanza Spalding
, Take 6
, George Duke
and Taj Mahal
.
"Music will always be an integral part of mankind's emotions," says Love, "and it is most rewarding to feel we are making music history today."
Heads Up International also has its own customised content channel on Audiotube.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
.
Founded in 1990 by Dave Love, Heads Up International has gained international recognition for its contribution to the world of contemporary instrumental music. In that time, Heads Up artists and releases have consistently landed on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Contemporary Jazz, Traditional Jazz and World Music charts, and have garnered numerous industry awards, including Billboard's Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year (Roberto Perera’s Dreams & Desires), the AFIM's Independent Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year (Pieces of a Dreams’ Love’s Silhouette), a GRAMMY nomination in 2004 (Yellowjackets' Time Squared), a GRAMMY Award for Best Traditional World Music Album in 2005 (Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Raise Your Spirit Higher), a GRAMMY nomination for Best Surround Sound Award in the first ever surround sound category at the GRAMMYs (Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Raise Your Spirit Higher), ten additional GRAMMY nominations for such groups as Spyro Gyra
Spyro Gyra
Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...
, Mike Stern
Mike Stern
Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums...
, and others, JazzWeek's Radio Programmers Album Of The Year Award for two consecutive years (Jaco Pastorius Big Band's Word of Mouth Revisited and The Word Is Out!), and Gibson Guitar's Best Female Jazz Guitarist (Joyce Cooling). In addition to the awards and accolades, Heads Up artists have regularly captured the #1 slot in national radio airplay.
Heads Up International has also been a forerunner in innovative recording technology. For more than 12 years, the label has offered enhanced CDs with videos, artist bios and other bonus material. Heads Up was also among the first to release in the Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
5.1 Surround Sound (SACD) format and the first to incorporate enhanced CD technology with SACDs. In 1996, Love made the commitment to release selected titles as Enhanced CDs. “We were the first contemporary jazz label to fully commit to this new format,” he says. “Along with artist profiles and music videos, we introduced a new dimension in marketing by providing the user with additional music videos, sound bytes and biographies of our artists as an added value. In 2001, the company began releasing recordings in the SACD 5.1 Surround Sound Audio format,” states Love.
Dave Love, the president of Heads Up, attributes the label's success to its roster of fine artists.
"With signings over the years of such artists as YellowjacketsYellowjacketsYellowjackets is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz quartet.-History:The original group, called The Robben Ford Group, was formed in 1977, and consisted of Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson, all top-notch L.A. session musicians...
, NajeeNajeeJerome Najee Rasheed , known professionally as Najee, is an urban jazz saxophonist and flautist.He attended New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he studied with George Russell and Jaki Byard....
, Spyro GyraSpyro GyraSpyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...
, Pieces of a DreamPieces of a Dream (band)Pieces of a Dream is an American R&B/jazz group from Philadelphia. The group was formed in 1976 by bassist Cedric Napoleon, drummer Curtis Harmon, and keyboardist James Lloyd. At the time, the three were all teenagers...
, HiroshimaHiroshimais the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Ladysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
, Andy NarellAndy NarellAndy Narell is a musician and composer specialized in the steelpan.-Biography:He was born in New York City and moved to California in his teens. He took up the steelpan at a very young age in Queens, New York...
, Stanley ClarkeStanley ClarkeStanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...
, Marion MeadowsMarion MeadowsMarion Meadows is an American tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, composer, and smooth jazz recording artist of Native American, African American and Caucasian descent. Meadows has released a total of 9 albums to date.-Upbringing:...
, Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJohn Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
Big Band and Walter BeasleyWalter BeasleyWalter 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...
, I feel that the label is developing its own sound – that of a unique mix of contemporary music," says Love. "The crossover potential and international appeal of this repertoire has aided us in garnering worldwide success."
The label takes its name from the jazz group that Love – a trumpet player since elementary school – formed while attending North Texas State University on a jazz studies, arranging, and composition scholarship. After college, Love became musical director for Dr. Donald Byrd. Later, he recorded an album with his band and soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman is an American saxophonist and flautist. In June 2010, he received a NEA Jazz Masters lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.-Biography:...
. While shopping the release to record labels, Love took a position as the National Director of Sales & Marketing for Oxymoron P&D, Inc., whose principals convinced him to start his own label with the release.
Using Oxymoron for distribution, Love began Heads Up International, Ltd., out of Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The labels' maiden voyage was the Liebman recording, The Energy of the Chance.
In 2000, Heads Up International merged with Telarc International Corporation
Telarc International Corporation
Telarc International Corporation is an independent record label, based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods...
. This strategic alliance has helped Heads Up to further its distribution worldwide and tap into the financial resources necessary to take the label to a higher level of strength and visibility within the industry and in the consumer market. In 2005 the two entities were acquired by the Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group is a record company owned by Village Roadshow formed in 2004 by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. In 2005, the company acquired the classics and jazz label Telarc International. On December 18, 2006, Concord announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax;...
.
The Heads Up Africa series, a critically acclaimed collection that spotlights some of southern Africa's finest vocalists and instrumentalists, was launched to mark the tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid. Artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
, Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, Oliver Mtukudzi, Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
and other top talent from this musically and culturally rich part of the world have graced numerous recordings for the company.
In 2007, Heads Up was honored to release the final recordings of two jazz giants who have since passed on, Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
(Pilgrimage) and Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
(Brown Street).
Heads Up kicks off its 18th year with label debut recordings by Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten
Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
, Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Spalding is an American multi-instrumentalist best known as a jazz bassist and singer, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions...
, Take 6
Take 6
Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...
, George Duke
George Duke
George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
and Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
.
"Music will always be an integral part of mankind's emotions," says Love, "and it is most rewarding to feel we are making music history today."
Heads Up International also has its own customised content channel on Audiotube.
Musician
- Mindi AbairMindi AbairMindi Abair is an American smooth jazz saxophonist with a strong Top-40 pop music background. Mindi has toured and/or recorded with the Backstreet Boys, Duran Duran, Mandy Moore, Josh Groban, Adam Sandler, Keb' Mo', Lalah Hathaway, Lee Ritenour, Teena Marie, John Tesh, Bobby Lyle, Jonathan Butler,...
- Gerald AlbrightGerald AlbrightGerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist.Albright has sold over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. alone. His self-produced music features him on bass guitar, keyboards, flutes, drum programming, and background vocals.- Biography :...
- Ann Armstrong
- Philip BaileyPhilip BaileyPhilip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...
- Walter BeasleyWalter BeasleyWalter 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...
- Kenny Blake
- Bona FideBona FideBona Fide is a studio album from rock band Wishbone Ash. It is the first studio album in six years and is the only studio album to feature guitarist Ben Granfelt...
- Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
- Caribbean Jazz ProjectCaribbean Jazz ProjectCaribbean Jazz Project is a Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban jazz group including Dave Samuels, Paquito D'Rivera and Andy Narell. They might be best known for their 2002 album The Gathering. They have recorded seven albums, five for the Concord Jazz label, one for Inak Records and one for Heads...
- Citrus Sun
- Stanley ClarkeStanley ClarkeStanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...
- Richie ColeRichie ColeRichard Cole was an Australian rules footballer for the Collingwood and Essendon Football Clubs in the Australian Football League....
- Joyce CoolingJoyce CoolingJoyce Cooling, a San Francisco based jazz guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, has recorded seven albums - five of which charted on Billboard. She has to her credit two #1 singles, six Top-10 and 13 charting radio singles in all and has garnered multiple music awards including the Gibson Best Jazz...
- Stefán Dickerson
- Paquito D’Rivera
- George DukeGeorge DukeGeorge Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
- Candy DulferCandy DulferCandy Dulfer is a Dutch smooth jazz alto saxophonist who began playing at the age of six. She founded her band, Funky Stuff, when she was fourteen years old. Her debut album Saxuality received a Grammy Award nomination. Dulfer has released nine studio albums, two live albums, and one compilation...
- FourplayFourplayFourplay is a contemporary jazz quartet in the United States. The original members of the group were Bob James , Lee Ritenour , Nathan East , and Harvey Mason . In 1997, Lee Ritenour left the group and Fourplay chose Larry Carlton as his replacement...
- Tony Gable & 206
- Carlos Guedes
- HiroshimaHiroshimais the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
- IncognitoIncognito (band)Incognito is a British band, as well as one of the members of the United Kingdom's acid jazz movement. Their debut album, Jazz Funk, was released in 1981, with thirteen more albums following, the last of which, Transatlantic RPM, was released in 2010....
- Henry JohnsonHenry JohnsonHenry Johnson may refer to:*Henry Johnson , member of Parliament for Aldeburgh 1689–1719*Henry Johnson , American jazz musician*Henry Johnson...
- Ladysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
- Chuck LoebChuck LoebChuck Loeb is a guitarist who performs numerous styles of music, most notably jazz. Loeb's own solo projects have generally been commercially successful crossover jazz, which has "contemporary" or "smooth" jazz....
- Jeff Loeber
- Bobby LyleBobby LyleBobby Lyle is a jazz, soul jazz, and smooth jazz pianist. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee but grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota in a home near the corner of Park Avenue and 32nd Street. His father, reportedly, was a sports writer for the Star Tribune newspaper.He had his first gig at 16 and...
- Miriam MakebaMiriam MakebaMiriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
- Hugh MasekelaHugh MasekelaHugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
- Joe McBrideJoe McBrideJoe McBride is a former Scottish footballer who played for Celtic, Hibernian, Motherwell and Dunfermline Athletic. He was a prolific goalscorer, who is the third highest goalscorer in the Scottish league since football resumed after the Second World War...
- Marion MeadowsMarion MeadowsMarion Meadows is an American tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, composer, and smooth jazz recording artist of Native American, African American and Caucasian descent. Meadows has released a total of 9 albums to date.-Upbringing:...
- Oliver Mtukudzi
- NajeeNajeeJerome Najee Rasheed , known professionally as Najee, is an urban jazz saxophonist and flautist.He attended New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he studied with George Russell and Jaki Byard....
- Andy NarellAndy NarellAndy Narell is a musician and composer specialized in the steelpan.-Biography:He was born in New York City and moved to California in his teens. He took up the steelpan at a very young age in Queens, New York...
- Maceo ParkerMaceo ParkerMaceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...
- Jaco Pastorius Big Band
- Roberto PereraRoberto PereraRoberto Perera is a Smooth Jazz/ Fusion /Smooth Jazz harp musician.-Discography:*1990 - Erótica - Epic*1991 - Passions, Illusions and Fantasies - Heads Up Records*1992 - Dreams & Desires - Heads Up Records...
- Pieces Of A DreamPieces of a Dream (band)Pieces of a Dream is an American R&B/jazz group from Philadelphia. The group was formed in 1976 by bassist Cedric Napoleon, drummer Curtis Harmon, and keyboardist James Lloyd. At the time, the three were all teenagers...
- Doc PowellDoc PowellDoc 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....
- SakéshoSakéshoSakésho 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 , Michel Alibo and Jean-Phillip Fanfant ; all born in the French Caribbean, plus North American Andy Narell .The group is based in Paris...
- Diane SchuurDiane SchuurDiane Schuur is an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Deedles", she has won two Grammy Awards, headlined many of the world's most prestigious music venues, including Carnegie Hall and The White House and has toured the world performing with such greats as Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, B. B...
- Eric Scortia
- Richard SmithRichard SmithRichard Smith may refer to:* Richard Smyth , also written Richard Smith, English Catholic scholar* Richard Smith , English Catholic Bishop, titular of Chalcedon in Asia Minor...
- Esperanza SpaldingEsperanza SpaldingEsperanza Spalding is an American multi-instrumentalist best known as a jazz bassist and singer, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions...
- Spyro GyraSpyro GyraSpyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...
- Mike SternMike SternMike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums...
- The Bad PlusThe Bad PlusThe Bad Plus are a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, MN.-History:...
- Nestor TorresNestor TorresNestor Torres is a jazz flautist who was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in 1957. He took flute lessons at age 12 and began formal studies at the Escuela Libre de Música, eventually attending Puerto Rico’s Inter-American University. At 18, he moved to New York with his family...
- Two Siberians
- Gerald VeasleyGerald VeasleyGerald Veasley is an American jazz bass guitarist.Veasley was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he played in R&B groups as a teenager. He worked with Joe Zawinul from 1988 to 1995, and began releasing his own records in 1992. He has also done extensive work as a studio musician....
- Pamela WilliamsPamela WilliamsPamela Williams is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, songwriter, producer and painter. Williams exhibits diverse musical elements in her repertoire, including Nu Jazz, Funk, R&B, House, Latin and Pop...
- Victor WootenVictor WootenVictor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
- YellowjacketsYellowjacketsYellowjackets is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz quartet.-History:The original group, called The Robben Ford Group, was formed in 1977, and consisted of Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson, all top-notch L.A. session musicians...
- Zap MamaZap MamaZap Mama is a Belgian musical group founded and led by Marie Daulne. Daulne says her mission is to be a bridge between the European and the African and bring the two cultures together with her music...
- Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
- Alexander ZonjicAlexander ZonjicAlexander Zonjic is a professional flutist born in Windsor, Ontario, who performs both light jazz and classical compositions. Zonjic initially played guitar at age 9, and by age 15 he was lead guitarist in a local Rhythm and blues band. At age 21, Zonjic purchased his first flute from a street...