George Duke - R.I.P.

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Captain Bacardi

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Just received terrible news that keyboardist George Duke passed away a few hours ago.

Jazz Keyboardist George Duke Dies

It has been reported veteran jazz, R&B, funk and fusion keyboard virtuoso George Duke has died aged 67. This news comes after a difficult period for the acclaimed keyboardist and composer whose wife Corine passed away just over a year ago. The Radio Facts website states that Duke died on 5 August but no other details have yet been confirmed as to the cause of his death, which comes while he had just launched his latest album, Dreamweaver, which he’d dedicated to his wife’s memory.

Former Supreme’s member and friend Sherrie Payne stated: “I just received the devastating and sad news that the great musician, George Duke, passed away this evening at St. John’s hospital in L.A. It was just one year earlier, 18 July that his beloved wife and my friend, Corine, went to be with the Lord. Please keep his sons, Rasheed and John, in your prayers.”

Duke’s career spanned jazz, funk and fusion beginning with his own modern jazz group in the 1960s backing the likes of Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon, but he was soon moving into the fusion terrain that would define much of his career as he began a longstanding musical partnership with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty in the early 1970s. He was invited to join Frank Zappa’s groundbreaking band The Mothers Of Invention and worked with them from 1969-1975, while also going on to work with Sonny Rollins and co-lead a band with Billy Cobham. His solo career began to take shape too as he released a number of classic albums for MPS and Epic, including Faces in Reflection, I Love the Blues, The Aura Will Prevail, Brazilian Love Affair, Master of the Gameand Thief In the Night.

In the 1970s his producing credits also began to mount up and included work with Raul de Souza, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and A Taste of Honey as well as many funk and R&B artists such as the Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, 101 North, George Howard, Gladys Knight, Najee, Take 6, Howard Hewett, Chanté Moore, Everette Harp, Rachelle Ferrell (his key collaborator in the early-1990s), Gladys Knight, Keith Washington, Gary Valenciano, Johnny Gill and Anita Baker. The 1980s saw him team up with bass icon Stanley Clarke in their ongoing Clarke/Duke jazz fusion project as well as sessions with Miles Davis, while the 1990s and 2000s saw Duke focus on his solo career as producer/composer and performer – leading one of the leanest and meanest live bands around.

Duke had recently returned to form in the studio and remained a hugely popular live draw at festivals and jazz clubs around the world. He will be sorely missed by his legions of fans from both R&B/soul and jazz-fusion worlds.




Capt. Bacardi

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I was a big admirer of his, so I'm quite sad to hear this. His Clarke/Duke project albums with Stanley Clarke are favorites of mine (and "Sweet Baby" is still one of the greatest smooth-jazz singles of all-time; such a dynamite song!), and, though he may be quite famous as a jazz musician, I think people tend to forget that he was also a really accomplished and in-demand producer during much of his career. He produced a lot of truly excellent R&B records in the '80s, not in the least Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy," A Taste of Honey's "Sukiyaki," and all of Jeffrey Osborne's best albums [Jeffrey Osborne, Stay with Me Tonight, and my personal favorite, Don't Stop (why "Let Me Know" didn't become a major R&B hit is beyond me; that may be Osborne's single-greatest moment as a solo artist.)] Quite a loss. He'll be missed!

- Jeff F.
 
Just read that Duke had been battling chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). He had just released an album on Concord called DreamWeaver. I also never realized he majored on trombone and composition in college, although I don't recall any recordings where he played the 'bone. I never cared for those Duke/Clarke albums myself, but loved the one he did with Billy Cobham and all those Zappa albums.



Capt. Bacardi
 
Here's an obit from the Jazz Times site:

George Duke Is Dead at 67
Prolific keyboardist, composer, producer reigned in jazz, R&B, funk and fusion
By Jeff Tamarkin


George Duke, the keyboardist, composer and producer who crossed genre lines effortlessly beginning in the mid-’60s, died yesterday (Aug. 5) in Los Angeles. He was battling chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to a statement released by the Concord Music Group, which released Duke’s latest album, DreamWeaver, on its Heads Up International label just three weeks ago. The album was a tribute to his wife, Corine, who passed away last year.

Duke was a highly prolific artist who released more than 30 albums as a leader, served as a sideman and collaborator with dozens of artists, and produced recordings by a wide variety of singers and musicians. An early experimenter within the emerging fusion and funk genres, he was equally at home playing straightahead jazz, mainstream rhythm-and-blues and Brazilian music.

Like many other jazz musicians, his first influence was gospel. Born in San Rafael, Calif., on Jan. 12, 1946, Duke began taking piano lessons at age 7, inspired by the keyboard sounds he heard in his local church. By his mid-teens, Duke had immersed himself in jazz. He played with local jazz groups while still in high school (including a trio with singer Al Jarreau) and went on to study at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he majored in trombone and composition, minoring in contrabass. He received his Bachelor of Music degree there in 1967.

Duke released his debut album as a leader, The George Duke Quartet Presented by the Jazz Workshop, in 1966, on the local SABA label. On his website, he called it “the worst album I’ve ever made.” In 1969, following a stint with the Don Ellis Big Band, Duke collaborated with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty on an album titled The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with George Duke. He also contributed to Ponty’s Canteloupe Island and Electric Connection albums during that period.

Duke’s next leader recording, 1970’s Save the Country, was his first attempt to blend pop material with funk, but it was his high-profile gig as a member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, beginning in 1970, that brought him wide recognition. The experimental rock guitarist had re-formed his group and brought Duke in for his superior keyboard chops. Duke appeared on several Zappa album in the 1970s, beginning with Chunga’s Revenge, and in the 1971 film (and its soundtrack) 200 Motels. Duke can be heard on the Zappa albums Waka/Jawaka (1972), The Grand Wazoo (1972), Over-Nite Sensation (1973), Apostrophe (') (1974), Roxy & Elsewhere(1974), One Size Fits All (1975), Bongo Fury (1975) and others released after he left Zappa’s employ.

Duke also worked with Cannonball Adderley for some two years in the early ’70s (he appears on several albums from that decade), and with Brazilian artists Flora Purim and Airto.

Duke continued releasing solo albums during the ’70s, adding his own vocals to his solo recordings beginning with 1974’s Faces in Reflection, also the first album on which he played synthesizer. Describing the expansive orchestral feel of 1975’s I Heard the Blues, She Heard Me Cry on his website, Duke noted, “I grew up listening to all kinds of music, and I didn't see why I should be kept in a box musically. I felt, and still feel, that there is intrinsic worth in all forms of music, even the simpler forms. I’ve always wanted to bring cultures and music together—you know, make a nice stew.”

In the mid-’70s, Duke also co-led a band with drummer Billy Cobham, the first recorded result of which was the 1976 album ”Live” On Tour in Europe. That same year, Duke recorded his first solo piano album, although it would not be released until 1982.

Duke continued to move more toward funk in the late ’70s and ’80s, although he never abandoned jazz. His musical association with his cousin, singer Dianne Reeves, began with Duke’s 1977 From Me to You LP and would continue through the years as he produced several of Reeves' albums. That same album featured bassist Stanley Clarke, with whom Duke would work often in subsequent years. The pair’s 1981 single “Sweet Baby” became a No. 19 hit in Billboard, the highest placement for either artist in the trade magazine’s charts. The Clarke/Duke Project, their first full collaborative album, reached No. 33 in Billboard in 1981.

Duke’s solo albums began charting in Billboard as early as 1975’s Feel, but it wasReach for It, released in late 1977, that became his biggest seller, peaking at No. 25 and achieving RIAA gold-record status. The self-explanatory A Brazilian Love Affairwas released in 1979. Duke recorded for the MPS/BASF label early in his career, then primarily for Epic, Elektra, Warner Bros. and Heads Up.

As a sideman, Duke appeared during the ’70s and ’80s on recordings by such artists as Michael Jackson (keyboards on Off the Wall), Jeffrey Osborne, Sonny Rollins, Al Jarreau, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis (Tutu,Amandla) and many others.

His compositions have been covered and sampled by an array of diverse artists including Kanye West, Ice Cube and Daft Punk.

Duke also began producing other artists prolifically during the late ’70s, his credits including Deniece Williams, Anita Baker, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Smokey Robinson, the Pointer Sisters, Take 6, Gladys Knight, Rachelle Ferrell, A Taste of Honey, Barry Manilow and many others.

Duke often served as musical director for television specials and large-scale jazz events, most recently the International Jazz Day celebrations. He also taught a course on Jazz and American Culture at Merritt Junior College in Oakland.

Nominated for several Grammy Awards, Duke won once, for his production work on Dianne Reeves’ 2000 In the Moment album.




Capt. Bacardi
 
I was shocked to read the news a few moments ago, and only just found out in the obits he had been fighting a form of Leukemia. :sigh:

He was huge around these parts, more so for the funk and fusion than anything else. We grew up to his recordings, the Clarke/Duke albums, etc. I was lucky to see him two times in concert, one with Clarke (which blew the roof off the place--they were the last act on a multi-act bill), and another as part of a "stars of jazz" type of program that also featured David Sanborn, Al Jarreau and one or two others. Duke was also musical director. The place when nuts when the first three notes of "Reach For It" came pounding from the stage during his own featured segment--multiple yells of "Take it to the bridge!!" came from near our section of the audience. :D

Not sure if I want to play my favorite Duke album, Brazilian Love Affair (which I've recommended here multiple times to anyone who is a Mendes fan :) ), or something more mellow along the lines of After Hours (the ultimate chill-out album) or his Muir Woods Suite. Too late in the day to crank up Reach For It. :wink:
 
George was a guy perfect for Zappa who, ever the bandleader, needed pros who could play what he needed but could also add their own ideas to the mix as well (kinda like Miles used to do). He made some good music outside of FZ, but not sure he ever was as inspired again, or fun to hear. RIP.

ED
 
Quite a shock here too. Someone posted it on Facebook and it took a second to sink in. "Sweet Baby" is a classic and there's a live version floating around out there on YouTube that is just sublime. He's not much thought of for his voice but I always liked his. If course, great player/producer/everything guy.

Here's the video:



Ed
 
"Sweet Baby" made it onto our favorite R&B stations as well as WJZZ--it was a big hit in the Urban markets. Ditto some of the follow-ups from both Duke and Clarke on their subsequent albums ("Shine On" by Duke, and "Straight To The Top" by Clarke both had a lot of airplay here, and "Reach Out" from Duke's Guardian Of The Light was another big one here as well).

I'm waiting to hear Deja Vu later on--it was his album from 2010 that is a throwback to the 70s days of funk and fusion in both sound and style. I already have DreamWeaver from HDTracks, ready to roll.
 
Yep. "Sweet Baby" hit #6 on R&B. many thought it was EWF and it easily could have been. I've been playing that one a lot along with "I Just Want To Love You". "Finding My Way" is the closer and it's strange but I like that one too.

Ed
 
Heard "What Goes Around Comes Around" from Deja Vu on Watercolors, and was fortunate enough to find it and download it.
 
ThaFunkyFakeTation said:
Yep. "Sweet Baby" hit #6 on R&B. many thought it was EWF and it easily could have been. I've been playing that one a lot along with "I Just Want To Love You". "Finding My Way" is the closer and it's strange but I like that one too.
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Funny you say that, 'cause I've always liked "Sweet Baby" but, for years, I never actually knew who did it, either! I ended up finally getting the record without even knowing it - I bought a box of 45s from a flea market once, and "Sweet Baby" was in there, and when I first put it on the turntable, thinking that I would be hearing this song for the first time, only to recognize the opening notes right away, I naturally got really excited that I not only had finally discovered who it was by but that I had already obtained a copy! (I love it whenever that kind of thing happens! :D)

- Jeff F.
 
My husband and I saw George along with Stanley Clarke at an outside venue in Rock Creek Park in S. W. Atlanta about 5 years ago. What a treat!! Rob also interviewed George Duke in either 2007 or 2008 through station WVOL in Nashville, TN. He and George communicated through email regularly around the time of the interview. He was a musical genius and a gentle, sweet, soul. Corine is waiting for him. May he rest in peace.
 
jfiedler17 said:
Funny you say that, 'cause I've always liked "Sweet Baby" but, for years, I never actually knew who did it, either! I ended up finally getting the record without even knowing it - I bought a box of 45s from a flea market once, and "Sweet Baby" was in there, and when I first put it on the turntable, thinking that I would be hearing this song for the first time, only to recognize the opening notes right away, I naturally got really excited that I not only had finally discovered who it was by but that I had already obtained a copy! (I love it whenever that kind of thing happens! :D)

- Jeff F.
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I have little need for cool points; as a kid, I didn't know either. LOL! It took until about 1992 to find out. I heard it on WHUR in DC and they identified it...finally. The night they did so, I ran out to Tower and grabbed it.

Ed
 
I had read a good review of the first Clarke/Duke Project album in Stereo Review (where it was an Album Of The Month), which prompted me to put it on my Xmas list. :D The review started off with the assumption that the album might turn out to be like a fusion overload of the worst kind, but the reviewer discovered it was actually a very nicely done pop/R&B album, and treated it as such. On those terms it works great IMHO--it had airplay on both the jazz and R&B stations locally, and I think "Sweet Baby" even might have grazed the soft rock station WNIC's playlist at some point also. "Sweet Baby", "Winners" and "Touch and Go" were three I remember radio riding quite a bit back then.

But I had the same surprise back then when I finally got the album over the holidays: "Hey! It's that song!" :laugh: That is what made me warm to it almost instantly, and it got quite a bit of play at the house. And in the car. I remember having put some big (for the time) amps into the car and cranked up the album's opener, "Wild Dog," to the chagrin of half the neighborhood. :D

I like artists who can stretch like that. Both Clarke and Duke traveled a long way musically. Duke played in Zappa's group, gigged with Ponty, cut some of his own fusion albums in the 70s, made some killer funk grooves in the later 70s and 80s with a pop album or two thrown in, went to acoustic jazz, and even wrote a suite of jazz music with strings (the Muir Woods Suite). And yet, he still found time to produce so many artists in both jazz, R&B and pop. Even the average person on the street has probably heard something Duke had touched in some way over the years.

I don't know if it is still up, but Duke's website had a question and answer section that was interesting to read through, since he would answer the questions personally.
 
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Ann Kopfer said:
My husband and I saw George along with Stanley Clarke at an outside venue in Rock Creek Park in S. W. Atlanta about 5 years ago. What a treat!! Rob also interviewed George Duke in either 2007 or 2008 through station WVOL in Nashville, TN. He and George communicated through email regularly around the time of the interview. He was a musical genius and a gentle, sweet, soul. Corine is waiting for him. May he rest in peace.
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I wish I had seen that tour: that was the Clarke/Due 4 "Bring It" tour. Sounds like they've had fun with the Project throughout the years!

It has been six years since they last toured together and both are looking forward to the CLARKE/DUKE 4 “BRING IT” Tour. Clarke remarks, “I’m looking forward to these performances, because the most fun I have touring is with George. We have a good time together. We’re both older and more experienced. Our repertoire is more all-encompassing and much more diverse.”

Duke adds, “Touring with Stanley is always a good thing, because he’s a nut. He’s the younger brother I never had. We each have different perspectives on music, but at the same time a lot of similarities. It’s the diversity of our backgrounds that makes it interesting. My musical background is West Coast and Stanley’s is East Coast. I came from R&B, where Stanley came more from rock.”
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Nice tribute to George Duke on Stanley Clarke's website:

George
Posted on August 7, 2013
clarke_duke.jpg


Many of us have come together in thought and in spirit because of George’s passing…..

George Duke’s life is to be celebrated because his life was about achievement, discipline, structure, focus, love and extreme ability. George lived life “STRONG’. He lived the life of 30 musicians. He attacked life as much as life attacked him. George Duke was a true soldier of music and could very possibly be the nicest man I’ve ever met……!

“A walking angel”….. There isn’t a person who can say that once they were in George’s presence they didn’t feel better!
He was a healer and a lover of people. George Duke left a gigantic footprint on the planet. I was very fortunate to know him and share tremendous experiences with this enlightened man.

The thing I’m going to miss most is calling him on the phone and greeting him with “yo Big Daddy”, which many of his close friends affectionately call him.

Enjoy your next game Big Daddy!!
Stanley Clarke
 
Love "Brazilian Love Affair". Amazing tune. Feels very "west coast Al Jarreau" to me. He'd have killed this. 'Course, George certainly had the voice for this so it's just great as it is.

Ed
 
I've recommended that album in our Brazil section here, but I don't think anyone ever took me up on the offer. :D

There is a nice Brazilian cut on the Reach For It album--makes a good "bonus" cut for Brazilian Love Affair.
 
BTW, if anyone wants to read a good history of George's work over his career, go no further than this page on his own site:

http://www.georgeduke.com/history.html

Read through all of the discography entries, as he has written personal anecdotes for each album. And he is critical of his own work!

One thing I want to do is collect all of his Brazilian-themed tracks and present them as a set of bonus tracks for Brazilian Love Affair. Doing another album like that was one thing I wished he had found time to do.
 
Thanks for the link, Rudy! I loved reading the few I've read so far (I'll read the others when I have more time). I didn't even know that was there.

Ed
 
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