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20-519: In 1996, Telarc merged with another independent label, Heads Up , now a Telarc subsidiary. In late 2005 both Telarc and Heads Up were bought by Concord Records . Today both labels operate as semi-autonomous units in the Concord Music Group . Telarc is noted for the high quality of its recordings, encapsulated in the slogan "The Telarc Sound". Its 1979 high-definition digital recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (the first ever) became

40-573: A bachelor's degree in trombone and composition , with a minor in contrabass , from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1967. He earned a master's degree in composition from San Francisco State University in 1975. Although Duke started playing classical music, he credited his cousin Charles Burrell for convincing him to switch to jazz. He explained that he "wanted to be free" and Burrell "more or less made

60-509: A member of The Mothers of Invention , two years with Adderley, then returned to Zappa. Zappa played guitar solos on his album Feel (1974). In 1975 he recorded with Pete Magadini (his Original drummer) the album Polyrhythm on Ibis Recordings. He recorded I Love the Blues She Heard My Cry with Zappa's bandmates Ruth Underwood , Tom Fowler, and Bruce Fowler and jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. Duke occasionally recorded under

80-482: A popular way for people to test the quality of their record-playing equipment and audio setups, as only high-quality and properly-tuned systems could play the hifi digital cannon shots properly. The record ultimately became their best-selling ever and established them as a company. Its audio engineers are highly regarded in the recording business and have led Telarc to over 50 Grammy Awards on its own label and two others it distributes, Heads Up and MCG. In 2004 it received

100-562: A professor of music. He first made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio . He was known primarily for 32 solo albums, of which A Brazilian Love Affair from 1979 was his most popular, as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa . George M. Duke was born in San Rafael, California , United States, to Thadd Duke and Beatrice Burrell, and

120-769: The JazzWeek 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 ). Heads Up artists have regularly captured the No. 1 position in national radio airplay. 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

140-884: The Blues Foundation honored Telarc with its 2013 Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Award. The KBA ceremony was held in conjunction with the 29th International Blues Challenge (IBC). Heads Up International Heads Up International is a jazz record label that was formed in Cleveland, Ohio. It was bought by the Concord Music Group in 2005. The label got its name from a jazz group that Dave Love formed while attending North Texas State University . After college, Love became musical director for Donald Byrd . Later, he recorded an album with his band and soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman . While trying to sell

160-626: The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences . Duke has received two awards out of nine nominations. He was inducted into The SoulMusic Hall of Fame at SoulMusic.com Al Jarreau recorded the tribute album My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke (Concord, 2014) with songs written by Duke. Appearing on the album were Gerald Albright , Stanley Clarke , Dr. John , Lalah Hathaway , Boney James , Marcus Miller , Jeffrey Osborne , Greg Phillinganes , Kelly Price , Dianne Reeves (Duke's cousin), and Patrice Rushen . The album received

180-472: The "Label of the Year" award from Gramophone magazine. Telarc was one of the first labels to record music with a 20-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in the late 1980s and has used 24-bit formats since 1996. In February 2009, due to corporate restructuring at Concord Music Group, Telarc announced it would cut twenty-six jobs and that it would also stop producing its own recordings. These job cuts included

200-570: The 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London. In 1989, he temporarily replaced Marcus Miller as musical director of NBC's late-night music performance program Sunday Night during its first season. He was a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards. He died on August 5, 2013, in Los Angeles, at the age of 67 from chronic lymphocytic leukemia . The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by

220-703: The Super Audio CD ( SACD ) format and the first to incorporate enhanced CD technology with SACDs. Heads Up International's musicians have appeared on the Billboard 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 ), the AFIM 's Independent Contemporary Jazz Album of

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240-598: The Year ( Love's Silhouette by Pieces of a Dream ) a Grammy Award 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 Spyro Gyra , Mike Stern ,

260-554: 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

280-551: The decision for me" by convincing him to "improvise and do what you want to do". He taught a course on jazz and American culture at Merritt College in Oakland. Duke recorded his first album in 1966. His second was with French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty , with whom he performed in San Francisco. After Frank Zappa and Cannonball Adderley heard him play, they invited him to join their bands. He spent two years with Zappa as

300-564: The highly regarded, multi-award-winning production team. Telarc's founder and former president Robert Woods resigned in March 2009 and was replaced by Heads Up president Dave Love. Love was let go the following month. Five/Four Productions was formed by four members of the Telarc production team: Grammy award-winning engineers Michael Bishop and Robert Friedrich, Grammy award-winning producer Thomas Moore, and chief technician Bill McKinney. In 2013,

320-428: The label. In 2007, Heads Up released the final albums by Michael Brecker ( Pilgrimage ) and Joe Zawinul ( Brown Street ). Heads Up began its 18th year with recordings by George Duke , Taj Mahal , Esperanza Spalding , Take 6 , 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

340-466: The name Dawilli Gonga, possibly for contractual reasons, when appearing on other artists' albums. In 1977, Duke fused jazz with pop, funk, and soul music on his album From Me to You . Later, that same year, his album Reach for It entered the pop charts, and his audiences increased. In 1981, he began a collaboration with bassist Stanley Clarke that would last through the 1980s, which combined pop, jazz, funk, and R&B. Their first album contained

360-502: The single " Sweet Baby ", which became a Top 20 pop hit. During the 1980s, Duke's career moved to a second phase as he spent much of his time as a record producer. He produced pop and R&B hits for A Taste of Honey , Jeffrey Osborne , and Deniece Williams . His clients included Anita Baker , Rachelle Ferrell , Everette Harp , Gladys Knight , Melissa Manchester , Barry Manilow , The Pointer Sisters , Smokey Robinson , Seawind , and Take 6 . Duke worked as musical director at

380-509: The two companies were acquired by the Concord Music Group . The label's roster includes Mindi Abair , Richard Elliot , Fourplay , Mike Stern , and Peter White . Its catalog includes Stanley Clarke , George Duke , Hiroshima , Earl Klugh , Jeff Lorber , Spyro Gyra , and Take 6 . The Heads Up Africa series was begun to mark the tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid . Musicians such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo , Miriam Makeba , Hugh Masekela , and Oliver Mtukudzi have recorded for

400-568: Was raised in Marin City . At four years of age, he became interested in the piano. His mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert and told him about this experience. "I don't remember it too well, but my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying 'Get me a piano, get me a piano! ' " He began his formal piano studies at the age of seven at a local Baptist church. He attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley before earning

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