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 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.

Biography

George M. Duke was born in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish for " St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's popula ...

, United States, to Thadd Duke and Beatrice Burrell and raised in Marin City. At four years old, 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 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 San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

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 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 Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single " Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", w ...

heard him play, they invited him to join their bands. He spent two years with Zappa as 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 FowlerWatson, Ben, ''Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play'', St Martin's Press, New York, 1993, p. 294. and jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. Duke occasionally recorded under the name Dawilli Gonga, possibly for contractual reasons, when appearing on other artists' albums. Stanley Clarke & George Duke

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 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 ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...

, Jeffrey Osborne, and Deniece Williams. His clients included Anita Baker, Rachelle Ferrell,

Everette Harp Everette Harp (born August 17, 1961, in Houston, Texas) is an American jazz saxophonist who has recorded for Blue Note, Capitol and Shanachie Records. His album ''Jazz Funk Soul'', a collaboration with Chuck Loeb and Jeff Lorber, received his f ...

, Gladys Knight, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, The Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, Seawind, and Take 6. Duke worked as musical director at 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.

Awards and honors

Grammy awards

The

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Duke has received two awards out of nine nominations.

Other honors

George Duke Performing on Keyboard in 2010

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 Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

, Stanley Clarke,

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

, Lalah Hathaway, Boney James, Marcus Miller, Jeffrey Osborne, Greg Phillinganes, Kelly Price, Dianne Reeves (Duke's cousin), and Patrice Rushen. The album received the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.

Discography

* ''The George Duke Quartet Presented By The Jazz Workshop 1966 Of San Francisco'' (1966) * ''Save the Country'' (1970) * ''Solus'' (First Disc Of The Album The Inner Source) (1971) * ''The Inner Source'' (Second Disc Of The Album The Inner Source) (1973) * '' Faces in Reflection'' (1974) * '' Feel'' (1974) * ''

The Aura Will Prevail ''The Aura Will Prevail'' is the sixth studio album by American keyboardist George Duke. It was released in 1975 through MPS Records. Recording sessions took place at Paramount Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. The album features cont ...

'' (1975) * ''

I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry ''I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry'' is the seventh studio album by American keyboardist George Duke. It was released in 1975 through MPS Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Paramount Recording Studios in Hollywood, Califor ...

'' (1975) * ''

Liberated Fantasies ''Liberated Fantasies'' is the eighth studio album by American keyboardist George Duke. It was recorded and mixed by Kerry McNabb at Paramount Recording Studios in Hollywood, California in 1976 and released through MPS Records, making it Duke's s ...

'' (1976) * '' From Me to You'' (1977) * '' Reach for It'' (1977) * ''The Dream (aka The 1976 Solo Keyboard Album)'' (1978) * '' Don't Let Go'' (1978) * '' Follow the Rainbow'' (1979) * '' Master of the Game'' (1979) * '' A Brazilian Love Affair'' (1980) * '' Dream On'' (1982) * '' Guardian of the Light'' (1983) * ''Rendezvous'' (1984) * '' Thief in the Night'' (1985) * ''George Duke'' (1986) * ''Night After Night'' (1989) * '' Snapshot'' (1992) * ''Illusions'' (1995) * ''Is Love Enough?'' (1997) * ''After Hours'' (1998) * '' Cool'' (2000) * ''Face the Music'' (2002) * ''

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

'' (2005) * ''In a Mellow Tone'' (2006) * ''

Dukey Treats ''Dukey Treats'' is the thirtieth studio album by American keyboardist and record producer George Duke. It was released on August 26, 2008, through BPM Records under exclusive license to Heads Up International. Track listing Personnel * Ge ...

'' (2008) * ''Déjà Vu'' (2010) * ''

DreamWeaver Adobe Dreamweaver is a proprietary web development tool from Adobe Inc. It was created by Macromedia in 1997 and developed by them until Macromedia was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2005. Adobe Dreamweaver is available for the macOS and Windo ...

'' (2013)

References

NAMM Oral History Program The NAMM Oral History Program is a collection of one-on-one interviews with people involved in the music products industry, including music instrument retailers, instrument and product creators, suppliers and sales representatives, music educators ...