George Duke
(born 12 January, 1946 in San Rafael, California) is a piano and synthesizer pioneer and singer. He made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio
. He is known for his solo work as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa.
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GEORGE DUKE TICKETS
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Career
Duke attended
Tamalpais High School in
Mill Valley before earning a bachelor's degree in music from the
San Francisco Conservatory in 1967.
He appeared on a number of Zappa's albums in the early and mid-1970s, including
Chunga's Revenge
,
200 Motels
,
Waka/Jawaka
,
The Grand Wazoo
,
Apostrophe
,
One Size Fits All
,
Bongo Fury
and
Roxy & Elsewhere
. Duke's other high-profile collaborators include
Jean-Luc Ponty,
Stanley Clarke,
Billy Cobham,
Cannonball Adderley, his cousin
Dianne Reeves,
Deniece Williams,
Jeffrey Osborne,
George Clinton,
Anita Baker,
Regina Belle,
Rachelle Ferrell,
Marilyn Scott and
Mike Mainieri's fusion group
Steps Ahead, for whom he produced the track "Magnetic Love." He also served as a producer and composer for two instrumental tracks on
Miles Davis albums: "Backyard Ritual" (from
Tutu
, 1986) and "Cobra" (from
Amandla
, 1989). He has also worked with a number of notable Brazilian musicians, including singer
Milton Nascimento, percussionist
Airto Moreira and singer
Flora Purim.
Sheila E appeared on Duke's late-1970s solo albums
Don't Let Go
and
Master of the Game
.
Duke had been fairly visible in the R&B world thanks to funk gems like "Reach for It" and "Dukey Stick" when in 1979 he ventured to Rio to record probably his best known album called, 'A Brazilian Love Affair'. He employed singers
Flora Purim and
Milton Nascimento and percussionist
Airto Moreira. Although not the return to instrumental jazz some hoped it would be, this musical effort does contain its share of jazz-influenced material. From a jazz standpoint, the album's most noteworthy songs include Nascimento's "Cravo e Canela," "Love Reborn," and the exuberant "Up from the Sea It Arose and Ate Rio in One Swift Bite." From the same album came the charming gem "Brazilian Sugar" which was featured on the 2006 video game
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. Meanwhile, Nascimento's vocal on the ballad "Ao Que Vai Nascer" is a fine example of Brazilian pop at its most sensuous. However one labels or categorizes this music, the album is clearly a labor of love from start to finish.
Duke has also worked as
musical director at numerous large-scale musical events, including the
Nelson Mandela tribute concert at
Wembley Stadium, London in 1988. In 1989, he temporarily replaced
Marcus Miller as musical director of
NBC's acclaimed late-night music performance program
Sunday Night
during its first season.
[1] Duke was also a judge for the 2nd annual
Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
[2]
Duke's songs have been used by a wide variety of contemporary musicians in a wide array of genres. These include: "
I Love You More
", sampled by
house music-act
Daft Punk for their hit "
Digital Love"; "
Guilty
", sampled by
electronica music artist
Mylo in his song "
Guilty of Love
"; "
For Love
", sampled by underground hip hop artist
MF Doom on his track "I Hear Voices"; "
Someday
", sampled by hip hop artist/producer
Kanye West for
Common in "
Break My Heart
" on his "
Finding Forever" album; "
You and Me
", sampled and used by
soul/
rhythm and blues influenced hip hop-produer
9th Wonder for his collaboration album with Kaze (rapper) for the track "
Spirit Of '94
" on the album "Spirit Of '94: Version 9.0".
Recently Duke worked with
Jill Scott on the 3rd single from her sophomore album "Whenever You're Around". Since it was released it has peaked at #56 on U.S.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
Discography
| Title
| Year
| Label
|
|
| George Duke Quartet Presented by the Jazz Workshop
| 1966
|
|
|
| The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio
| 1969
| Pacific Jazz
|
|
| Save the Country
| 1970
| Pickwick
|
|
| Solus (The Inner Source)
| 1971
| SABA
|
|
| The Inner Source
| 1971
|
|
|
| Faces in Reflection
| 1974
| MPS/BASF
|
|
| Feel
| 1974
| MPS/BASF
|
|
| The Aura Will Prevail
| 1974
| MPS/BASF
|
|
| I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry
| 1975
| MPS/BASF
|
|
| Liberated Fantasies
| 1976
| MPS/BASF
|
|
| The Billy Cobham - George Duke Band 'Live' on Tour in Europe
| 1976
| Atlantic
|
|
| The 1976 Solo Keyboard Album
| 1976
| MPS/BASF
|
|
| From Me to You
| 1977
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Reach for It
| 1977
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Don't Let Go
| 1978
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Follow the Rainbow
| 1979
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Brazilian Love Affair
| 1979
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Master of the Game
| 1979
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Clarke/Duke Project
| 1981
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Dream On
| 1982
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Clarke/Duke Project 2
| 1983
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Guardian of the Light
| 1983
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Rendezvous
| 1984
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Thief in the Night
| 1985
| Elektra
|
|
| George Duke
| 1986
| Elektra
|
|
| Night After Night
| 1989
| Elektra
|
|
| Clarke/Duke Project 3
| 1990
| Epic/CBS
|
|
| Snapshot
| 1992
| Warner Bros.
|
|
| Muir Woods Suite
| 1993
| Warner Bros.
|
|
| Illusions
| 1995
| Warner Bros.
|
|
| Is Love Enough
| 1997
| Warner Bros.
|
|
| After Hours
| 1998
| Warner Bros.
|
|
| Cool
| 2000
| Warner Bros.
|
|
| Face the Music
| 2002
| Bizarre Planet
|
|
| Duke
| 2005
| Bizarre Planet
|
|
| In a Mellow Tone
| 2006
| Bizarre Planet
|
|
| Dukey Treats
| 2008
| Heads Up
|
|
References
- "Sunday Night" episodes #104 (1988), #113 (1989), #114 (1989), #121 (1989)
- Independent Music Awards - Past Judges