George Martin 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, as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

Biography

George Martin Duke was born in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...

, United States, to Thadd Duke and Beatrice Burrell, and was raised in Marin City. At four years of age, he became interested in the piano. His mother took him to see

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

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 Tamalpais High School (often abbreviated as Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises almost above Mill Valley. Tamalpais High Scho ...

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mill Valley is lo ...

before earning a bachelor's degree in trombone and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

, with a minor in

contrabass Contrabass (from ) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchestral string family ...

, 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 (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

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 Merritt College is a Public college, public community college in Oakland, California, United States. Merritt, like the other three campuses of the Peralta Community College District, is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accr ...

in Oakland. Duke recorded his first album in 1966. His second was with French violinist

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his colla ...

, with whom he performed in San Francisco. After

and

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

heard him play, they invited him to join their bands. He spent two years with Zappa as a member of

The Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) were an American rock music, rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an ...

, 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. 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 Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fus ...

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, reaching Number 19 on the

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

Hot 100 and Number 6 on the R & B charts. 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 Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D. (band), L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. B ...

, and

Deniece Williams June Deniece Williams (née Chandler; born June 3, 1950) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great Soul music, soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free (Deniece Williams song), Free", "Silly (song ...

. His clients included

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American jazz and soul singer. She is known for her soulful ballads, particularly from the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career in the late 1970s with the funk ban ...

, 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 ...

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. They have had a repertoire with many genres, they have sold around 50 million records throughout their ...

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

, Seawind, and

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as D ...

. Duke worked as musical director at the 1988

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London, and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. Marking the forthcoming 70th birthday (18 July 1988) of the ...

concert at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in London. In 1989, he temporarily replaced

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

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 Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. In CLL, the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes, which are a type of white blood cell. In patients with CLL, B cell lymphocytes can begin to colle ...

Awards and honors

Grammy awards

The

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s are awarded annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

. Duke has received two awards out of nine nominations.

GMA Dove Awards

Soul Train Awards

Other honors

George Duke Performing on Keyboard in 2010

He was inducted into The SoulMusic Hall of Fame at SoulMusic.com

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and ...

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 (born August 30, 1957) is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for the albums ''24/7 (Gerald Albright and Norman Brown album), 24/7'' in 2012 and ''Slam Dunk'' in 2014 and was nominated for ''New Beginnings (Gerald Albr ...

, Dr. John,

Lalah Hathaway Lalah Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. Credited as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, First Daughter of Soul", she is the first-born daughter of musician and soul singer Donny Hathawa ...

Boney James Boney James (born James Oppenheim September 1, 1961) is an American saxophonist, recording artist, songwriter and record producer. He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee (Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2001, 2004, 2014 and Best Traditional R&B Per ...

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

Kelly Price Kelly Cherelle Price (born April 4, 1973) is an American R&B and gospel singer. Beginning her career in 1992, Price originally performed backing vocals for Mariah Carey on multiple songs, including Carey's ''Billboard'' Hot 100-number one sin ...

, Dianne Reeves (Duke's cousin), and

Patrice Rushen Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, her 1982 single, "Forget Me Nots", received a no ...

. 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) * ''The Inner Source'' (1973) * '' Faces in Reflection'' (1974) * '' Feel'' (1974) * '' The Aura Will Prevail'' (1975) * '' I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry'' (1975) * '' Liberated Fantasies'' (1976) * ''

From Me to You "From Me to You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in April 1963 as their third single. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The song was the Beatles' first number 1 hit on what became the UK Singles ...

'' (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) * '' The Clarke/Duke Project (with

) (1981) * '' Dream On'' (1982) * '' Guardian of the Light'' (1983) * ''Rendezvous'' (1984) * '' Thief in the Night'' (1985) * ''George Duke'' (1986) * '' Night After Night'' (1989) * ''

Snapshot Snapshot, snapshots or snap shot may refer to: * Snapshot (photography), a photograph taken without preparation Computing * Snapshot (computer storage), the state of a system at a particular point in time * Snapshot (file format) or SNP, a file ...

'' (1992) * ''

Illusions An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

'' (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 Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

'' (2005) * ''In a Mellow Tone'' (2006) * '' Dukey Treats'' (2008) * ''

Déjà Vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–1 ...

'' (2010) * '' DreamWeaver'' (2013)

References

External links

* *
George Duke at NPR Music
* *
2009 interview
at

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

2010 interview

George Duke Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2010) * 2012 Interview
Part 1

Part 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, George 1946 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American keyboardists 21st-century American keyboardists American boogie musicians American dance musicians American funk keyboardists American jazz composers American jazz keyboardists American jazz pianists American male jazz composers American male jazz pianists American rhythm and blues keyboardists American soul keyboardists American television composers Atlantic Records artists BASF (record label) artists Cannonball Adderley Quintet members Deaths from chronic lymphocytic leukemia Deaths from leukemia in California Elektra Records artists Epic Records artists Grammy Award winners Heads Up International artists Jazz musicians from California MPS Records artists Musicians from San Rafael, California Musicians from Marin County, California Progressive rock keyboardists Progressive rock pianists San Francisco Conservatory of Music alumni San Francisco State University alumni Smooth jazz pianists Tamalpais High School alumni The Mothers of Invention members The Phil Collins Big Band members Warner Records artists