Heads of State – Four in One album review: Worthy leaders playing as equals

Heads of State is a convocation of venerables – saxophonist Gary Bartz, pianist Larry Willis, bassist David Williams and drummer Al Foster – all front-rank musicians who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as sidemen with some of the foundational artists of modern jazz.

So if there is a familiar ring to the repertoire on their second release – Charlie Parker's Moose the Mooche, Thelonious Monk's Four in One, John Lewis's Milestones – it's forgivable, as these four musicians represent among the last direct links to the post-bop generation.

But there's something else less familiar here too: being peers, with no defined leader, there is an openness and gregariousness to the group's sound which differs from the kind of star projects that each member might otherwise be leading. smokesessionsrecords.com