George Duke

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 is known for his 32 solo albums, as well as for his collaborations with other musicians like Stanley Clarke and (his cousin) Dianne Reeves, but particularly with composer, guitarist and bandleader Frank Zappa.

Biography George Martin Duke was born in San Rafael, California, United States, He earned a master's degree in composition from San Francisco State University 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. Zappa, who never played or recorded other than for his own projects, played guitar solos on Duke's album Feel (1974), after Duke joined him on nine of his albums and toured with the Mothers. In 1975 he recorded with his original drummer Pete Magadini 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 Fowler 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 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 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, and Deniece Williams. His clients included Anita Baker, Rachelle Ferrell, Everette Harp, Gladys Knight, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, The Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, Seawind, and Take 6. He was a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards (AIM).

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

GMA Dove Awards

Soul Train Awards + Year Category Nominated work Result 2013 Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/Group 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, Stanley Clarke, Dr. John, Lalah Hathaway, Boney James, Marcus Miller, Jeffrey Osborne, Greg Phillinganes, Kelly Price, Dianne Reeves, 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) 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 (1977) Reach for It (1977) The Dream (a.k.a. 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 Stanley Clarke (1981) 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 (2005) In a Mellow Tone (2006) Dukey Treats (2008) Déjà Vu (2010) DreamWeaver (2013)