About

In 1989 musician/entrepreneur Dave Love launched the Heads Up International record label, and over the next twenty years the company established itself as one of the most respected and innovative independent labels in the world. In addition to consistently landing on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz, Traditional Jazz, Blues and World Music charts, and garnering 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), JazzWeek’s Radio Programmers Award for Record of the Year four times (Jaco Pastorius Big Band’s Word of Mouth Revisited, Michael Brecker’s Pilgrimage, Jaco Pastorius Big Band The Word Is Out, Esperanza Spalding’s debut Esperanza) and Gibson Guitar’s Best Female Jazz Guitarist (Joyce Cooling) – Heads Up artists have regularly captured the #1 slot in national radio airplay and Billboard’s sales charts and for the past several years has dominated Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart with more productions on the chart in any given week then any other label. Love’s desire for innovation had Heads Up on the world wide web in and soon after offered enhanced CDs with videos, artist bios and other bonus material. The label was also among the first to release in the Super Audio CD 5.1 Surround Sound (SACD) format and was nominated for a GRAMMY in this first ever category. Love has been the executive producer and producer of over 30 GRAMMY winning and nominated recordings.

Dave Love’s early career as a performer, band leader, composer, arranger and manager and booking agent served as an invaluable training ground for the successful record executive and producer. A trumpet player, he began his musical training in fifth grade and privately studied performance, arranging and composition throughout his high school years in Kearny, New Jersey. In 1980, following acceptance into such prestigious music schools as the New England Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music, and Berklee, he settled on North Texas State University to continue his jazz studies. There, he was twice awarded NTSU’s coveted Jazz Arranging Scholarship and was a two-time recipient of the Dallas Jazz Society’s prestigious Louis Hubert Memorial Scholarship.In 1982 During his years at NTSU, Love formed a jazz group called Heads Up and then toured and performed in 52 foreign cities in nine different countries. As a musician, he has shared the stage with jazz luminaries Dr. Donald Byrd (for whom he also served as band leader and musical director from 1982-1985), Dave Liebman, Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, Lionel Hampton, and Jimmy Owens, among others. While in college, he also taught arranging classes and had his arrangements performed and/or recorded by the North Texas State One O’Clock Lab Band, Dave Liebman, Johnny Hernandez, and jazz ensembles at the University of Miami, University of Colorado and University of Beaumont.

Prior to completing his degree at NTSU in 1985, Love gained experience as a booking agent, hiring top jazz artists such as Jaco Pastorius, McCoy Tyner, Phil Woods, Elvin Jones, Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Samuels and many others. In addition, he was awarded the Department of Defense account for entertainment, booking performers at military bases throughout Europe and Asia. Around the same time, he also opened his own recording studio in Flower Mound, Texas, and for the next five years, recorded and produced various local groups, as well as music for videos and radio stations. Love continues today to consult with some of the top international music festivals around the world including: The Cape Town Jazz Festival, Den Hague Jazz Festival, Berks Jazz Festival and others.

In 1989, Love moved to the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood, Washington, and, while working as national sales manager for a record pressing and distribution firm, launched the label Heads Up International the following year. The recording company’s first release was an album featuring Love on trumpet and Dave Liebman on soprano sax entitled The Energy of the Chance.
Heads Up struck a distribution deal with Telarc International Corporation in 1996, and four years later, when the two companies merged, Love moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In 2005 and 2006, the influential jazz executive reached #9 on JazzTimes Magazine’s “Power Index”. as one of the most influential people in jazz around the world.

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

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. During the decade working as part of the Telarc team, Love signed the GRAMMY award winning project The Brecker Brothers & WDR Big Band, Arturo Sandoval and Sax Summit featuring Michael Brecker, Ravi Coltane and Dave Liebman to the Telarc label and contributed as part of the marketing team for such Telarc artists as Hiromi, Michel Camilo, Tierney Sutton, John Pizzarelli, Al Di Meola. Love produced various jazz compilations and new projects including Sax Summit featuring Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman and Ravi Coltrane. Dave also led the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild’s MCG Jazz label to numerous GRAMMY wins including two for legendary singer Nancy Wilson. In 2005 the two entities were purchased by the Concord Music Group where Love remained as part of the senior executive team for four years and went on to head up the Telarc International Corp before leaving the corporation in March of 2009.

In January of 2010 Love had open operations for the Barcleona based Management and Production company Montuno S.L. representing the North American interests for such acts as the Buena Vista Social Club, Grammy Award Winner Omara Portuondo, Roberto Fonseca and GRAMMY AWARD winner for Best New Artist jazz star Esperanza Spalding. Other than handling the North American offices for Montuno affairs,  Love handled the logistics for Esperanza’s Double Grammy Award Winning  Radio Music Society release. He has partnered with several outside companies such as Cisco, The Banana Republic and others to further these artist’s careers.

Love along with three partners had formed Innovative Entertainment Solutions / Modern Merchant Systems providing a platform for artists to sell their products through a proprietary shopping cart system. The marketing company provides a host of artist services including electronic press kits, ticketing promotions, newsletters and web site design. Clients include Montuno Productions, Spyro Gyra, Marcus Miller, George Duke, Peter White, Marion Meadows, Freddie Hubbard’s estate, Manchester Craftsman’s Guild, Cellar Live, Rick Braun, Taj Mahal, Jack DeJohnette and others.

Love through his commitment to young musicians and industry representatives in the Republic of South Africa, launched the Heads Up Africa series, a critically acclaimed collection that spotlighted some of southern Africa’s finest vocalists and instrumentalists. 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 are a part of Love’s ongoing commitment to southern Africa. The relationship Love has with South Africa is unique, and the tradition continues with the re-signing of artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, whose debut on the Listen 2 Africa Series is nominated for the GRAMMY in the World Music Category, Hugh Masekela and the representation of several African writers for publishing worldwide.

“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.”