George Duke

George Duke was an accomplished keyboardist, producer, arranger, bandleader, and composer, and a progenitor of the jazz- funk tradition. He was successful in both popular music and jazz, and straddled both sides of that aisle for most of his career, amassing thousands of credits. His U.S. debut album, Save the Country, appeared in 1970 when he was working in the bands of <a href="spotify:artist:3SInttLnvf5G4Aa95aAYPr">Jean-Luc Ponty</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2gSkBqzo1VXaWnAyjhoYk7">Gerald Wilson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6sPeUcMcOc2n0M7m1qHAer">Don Ellis</a>. He spent 1971 and 1972 with <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Cannonball Adderley</a> and began his working relationship with <a href="spotify:artist:6ra4GIOgCZQZMOaUECftGN">Frank Zappa</a> in 1970, joining his band from 1973 to 1975. He recorded on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MPS%22">MPS</a> under his own name between 1970 and 1976, and released I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry. From 1977 to 1984, he released a string of hit albums on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> including his jazz-funk breakthrough Reach for It, Follow the Rainbow, and Guardian of the Light. (Between 1975 and 2005 he released 18 Top 200-charting albums.) He co-led a group with drummer <a href="spotify:artist:0IwfuIL3gUJxjzUqY3wJ3j">Billy Cobham</a> and formed the Clarke-Duke Project with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:1lGt9WgdYGpMnmwGkcCm05">Stanley Clarke</a>. He moved to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a> in 1985, then to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a>, where he released the classical crossover outing Muir Woods Suite. Between 2008 and 2013, he was signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Heads+Up+International%22">Heads Up International</a> and released charting albums such Dukey Treats and Deja Vu.

<a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> grew up in Marin City, California, and in high school played in his first jazz group. His early influences were <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:07tYu4BGrfeogBobCefkHI">Les McCann</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3XOVABzceOUTbR3iEz0ImO">Cal Tjader</a>, all of whom played a role in the diversity of his composing, playing, and arranging. After graduating from high school, he attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and majored in trombone and composition with a minor in contrabass; he received his bachelor's degree in music in 1967. He continued his studies at San Francisco State University, where he earned a master's degree, and briefly taught at Merritt Junior College in Oakland. While in school, <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> was part of a house band at San Francisco's Half Note with <a href="spotify:artist:3YR92OLKlvkK5oKNekSqXe">Al Jarreau</a>. The band backed some of the biggest names in jazz, including <a href="spotify:artist:1VEzN9lxvG6KPR3QQGsebR">Sonny Rollins</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3NUsiT2JSyaWAnWaXxDzhQ">Dexter Gordon</a>.

He began his recording career in 1967 while still in school. His first recording, The George Duke Quartet, Presented by the Jazz Workshop, was released on Germany's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Saba%22">Saba</a> imprint, which later became <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MPS%22">MPS</a>, a label he enjoyed a fruitful relationship with in the '70s. In 1969 <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> heard a record on the radio by French violinist <a href="spotify:artist:3SInttLnvf5G4Aa95aAYPr">Jean-Luc Ponty</a>, and through his relationship with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pacific+Jazz%22">Pacific Jazz</a> honcho Dick Bock he was able to make contact with <a href="spotify:artist:3SInttLnvf5G4Aa95aAYPr">Ponty</a>; they eventually recorded The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio in 1969. The band played a slew of club gigs in the Bay Area, and at one such performance he was heard by audience members <a href="spotify:artist:6ra4GIOgCZQZMOaUECftGN">Frank Zappa</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Cannonball Adderley</a>. He was invited to join <a href="spotify:artist:6ra4GIOgCZQZMOaUECftGN">Zappa</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:3P2gYnypDVi90ZavnaAhfL">Mothers of Invention</a> and accepted, spending much of 1969 and 1970 with them. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> then spent 1971 and 1972 as pianist with <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Cannonball Adderley</a>'s band, and then returned to <a href="spotify:artist:6ra4GIOgCZQZMOaUECftGN">Zappa</a> from 1973 to 1975.

In 1975 he worked with <a href="spotify:artist:1VEzN9lxvG6KPR3QQGsebR">Sonny Rollins</a> and co-led a group with <a href="spotify:artist:0IwfuIL3gUJxjzUqY3wJ3j">Billy Cobham</a>. Throughout these years, <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> recorded six albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22MPS%22">MPS</a>: Solus/The Inner Source, Faces in Reflection, I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry, Feel, The Aura Will Prevail, and Liberated Fantasies, all of which are now regarded as jazz and jazz-funk classics. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22CBS%22">CBS</a> in late 1975 and released his first solo album for the imprint, From Me to You, in 1976, and began scandalizing jazz critics with his inclusion of funk, disco, and soul elements in his compositions, and in the array of musicians who performed with him. In 1978 he recorded his breakthrough, the crossover funk album Reach for It; it took him into the upper reaches of the pop charts and moved his concert appearances from clubs to arenas. Follow the Rainbow and Brazilian Love Affair both landed in 1979 and ran up the charts as well.

By the late '70s he was also producing projects for jazz, pop, and Brazilian artists including <a href="spotify:artist:4YuN1boMv1LQmVgV9prSs8">Raul de Souza</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2H3xDjMmp31iLmsgXxLFyI">Dee Dee Bridgewater</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1ii6e2pv8VIRwnTER71rMl">A Taste of Honey</a>, whose single "Sukiyaki" hit the top spot on the pop, adult contemporary, and R&B charts and went multi-platinum. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> became a producer of note, going on to score hits with Jeffrey Osbourne ("Stay with Me Tonight," "On the Wings of Love") and <a href="spotify:artist:5jNGQ7VOU87x5402JjhTtd">Deniece Williams</a> ("Let's Hear It for the Boy," "Do What You Feel"). After that, production played as large a role as making his own records -- during part of the '80s, his producing almost surpassed it. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> produced a diverse range of projects -- including records by <a href="spotify:artist:2kreKea2n96dXjcyAU9j5N">the Pointer Sisters</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3alW3LYQS8K29z8C8NSLIX">Barry Manilow</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0h9smro0z3HqUbD94jotU8">Smokey Robinson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:78udmCDNaDu5jqfVnBqwia">Melissa Manchester</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ED1e0KrmDR0vj4poyqlmd">101 North</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0MDjU3FoGxwGH0rbkcwF2f">George Howard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2aXiJJHJei5BmCykxI37y0">Gladys Knight</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:41F8cUV8LJGVDPNnj0ito3">Najee</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:31zQEL3ARiYe63jn3jtM18">Take 6</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3S78Gzhp1D01i1x2KGXrnh">Howard Hewett</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:77OlE8SkEHDkJczfswzDFo">Chanté Moore</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7LQBzOrln4d4D5EVAKK7LZ">Everette Harp</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0YLuHRRzBIUH7PQW0JW7NJ">Rachelle Ferrell</a> (his key collaborator in the early '90s), <a href="spotify:artist:2aXiJJHJei5BmCykxI37y0">Gladys Knight</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5l0XyfQLHoWFvINcSaSrSx">Keith Washington</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0RHiqaoRCsFLPeEuj3OQz4">Gary Valenciano</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7oHzn7edwmrYClrPRINkbn">Johnny Gill</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:46CH1Gp8l8QVly8bpG9JFG">Anita Baker</a> -- in a wide range of styles. Many of these records charted highly.

<a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> began the '80s with the first Clarke/Duke Project recording (with bassist <a href="spotify:artist:1lGt9WgdYGpMnmwGkcCm05">Stanley Clarke</a>) that netted his own number Top 20 crossover hit "Sweet Baby" (number 19 Pop, number 6 R&B). He also released the solo works Dream On, Guardian of the Light, and Rendezvous, as well as another Clarke/Duke Project album before leaving <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elektra%22">Elektra</a> in 1984. There he recorded Thief in the Night, George Duke, and Night After Night. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a>'s music delighted mainstream audiences and crossed over from pop to adult contemporary to the R&B charts effortlessly.

The '90s commenced for <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> with a third and final Clarke/Duke Project recording before he signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a> (after being courted by the legendary label boss Mo Ostin). While his debut for the label, 1993's Snapshot, hit the charts because of its smash single "No Rhyme, No Reason" (sung by <a href="spotify:artist:0YLuHRRzBIUH7PQW0JW7NJ">Ferrell</a>), the biggest surprise for audiences came later, in 1995, with the release of The Muir Woods Suite. A large jazz concept work, it was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival with <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> playing keyboards, <a href="spotify:artist:1lGt9WgdYGpMnmwGkcCm05">Clarke</a> on bass, <a href="spotify:artist:2fUOM7kelbpThkUpkTWPTW">Chester Thompson</a> on drums, and <a href="spotify:artist:4GkZsIFa4lKHy9e2MuqwIs">Paulinho Da Costa</a> on percussion fronting a symphony orchestra. It was actually recorded in 1993, but <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> spent two years "fixing" the tracks before it was released in 1995; he later performed it numerous times in concert. Jazz critics who had long derided his pop success and wrote him off suddenly took notice again. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a>, however, was courting no one. In 1996 he released Illusions and nailed another single in the Top 40 with "Love Can Be So Cold." Some of the players and singers featured on the album included <a href="spotify:artist:0YLuHRRzBIUH7PQW0JW7NJ">Ferrell</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5bTTx0CRvZj1kRJwUsWWYo">James Ingram</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7r0bFUc05YM7efmauBeOKw">Joyce Kennedy</a>, Mervin Warren, <a href="spotify:artist:2QuleHm5yBUYv3vjqWTM79">Marvin Winans</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:64CuUOOirKmdAYLQSfaOyr">the Emotions</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5D4g8u0UfgSFcisAei0qPI">Lori Perry</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7LQBzOrln4d4D5EVAKK7LZ">Everette Harp</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> finished the decade with a string of albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a> including a second concept work, After Hours, before leaving the label after 2000's Cool.

<a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> threw another change-up in 2002 with Face the Music, issued on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BPM%22">BPM</a>. He played mostly acoustic piano on the date -- something he hadn't done in years -- and used the same core band on the entire recording (another rarity). His main sidemen for the date were bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5ACxPOI9gR3l0cyy2dvkHv">Christian McBride</a>, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3bBn8Ok7sLFM6kWr72UQVk">Lil' John Roberts</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2KFWW0Eq25IBZobHvAWABw">Jef Lee Johnson</a> on guitar. Though there are other instruments and players, these men appear on every track. The album Duke was released in 2005, comprising a hodgepodge of music he'd left off other projects. In 2006 he released In a Mellow Tone, a more traditional jazz album with <a href="spotify:artist:6iyIbAydXPDNz1yYFl7A9h">Brian Bromberg</a> on upright bass and <a href="spotify:artist:02HpkiuAylAwAnQBswaXlP">Terri Lyne Carrington</a> on drums, and the jazz critics took notice once again. <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> returned to jazz-funk and R&B for 2008's Dukey Treats, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Heads+Up%22">Heads Up</a>/Telarc, once more using singers and a slew of musicians. It was followed by Déjà Vu in 2010. In 2012, he produced <a href="spotify:artist:5qUHCOUsvVKUpVrMMmztMK">Jeffrey Osborne</a>'s Time for Love album (released in 2013). During the sessions, <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a>'s wife of 40 years, Corine, died from complications due to cancer. After some time spent away from music in order to properly grieve, he entered the studio in early 2013, and recorded DreamWeaver, which was released in July of that year.

Undergoing treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a> passed away in a Los Angeles hospital the following month, just over a year after the passing of his wife. He was 67 years old.

Following his death, the labels he recorded for began remastering and reissuing his catalog and hits packages including My Soul: Era Will Prevail: The MPS Studio Years 1973-1976, Shine On: The Anthology – The Epic Years 1977-1984, No Rhyme, No Reason: The Elektra / Warner Years 1985-2000, and Clarke/Duke Project, Vols. 1-3 that introduced his work to an entirely new generation. In 2024, the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Robinsongs%22">Robinsongs</a> label released the five-disc From Me to You: Definitive Collection 1977-2000. The first cross-licensed compilation of his <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros%22">Warner Bros</a>. recordings, the set encompassed 87 tracks including singles, remixes, and much more. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi