# George Duke was legendary keyboardist … Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/01/12/george-duke-was-legendary-keyboardist-video/
- Published: 2018-01-12T00:04:47+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**12.01. – Happy Birthday !!! George Duke was born in San Rafael, California, and
reared in Marin City, a working class section of Marin County. When he was just 
four years old, his mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert. “I don’t remember
it too well,” says George, “but my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying‘
Get me a piano, get me a piano!’” He began his piano studies at age seven, absorbing
the roots of Black music in his local Baptist church. “That’s where I first began
to play funky. I really learned a lot about music from the church. I saw how music
could trigger emotions in a cause-and-effect relationship.”**

By the age of sixteen, George had played with a number of high school jazz groups.
He was heavily influenced by Miles Davis and the soul-jazz sound of Les McCann and
Cal Tjader. Attending the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music and majoring in trombone
and composition with a minor in contrabass, he received his Bachelor of Music degree
in 1967.

George and a young singer named Al Jarreau formed a group which became the house
band at San Francisco’s Half Note Club. “There was another club up the street called
The Both/And and I worked there on Mondays with everybody from Letta Mbulu to Sonny
Rollins and Dexter Gordon.” George later received a Masters Degree in composition
from San Francisco State University and briefly taught a course on Jazz And American
Culture at Merritt Junior College in Oakland. It was about this time that George
began to release a series of jazz LP’s on the MPS label.

One night, on a local jazz station, George heard a record by the violinist Jean-
Luc Ponty. When he found out that Jean- Luc was coming to California to record, 
he sent a tape to Dick Bock at World-Pacific Records, along with a note saying “
There is no other pianist for this guy but me.”

The George Duke Trio which emerged from those sessions was soon burning a path of
creative excitement through the jazz world. It included a major European tour and
an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. The group’s first gig in a rock-oriented
venue came in early 1969. “It was a club in Los Angeles called Thee Experience,”
George recalls. In attendance were Cannonball Adderly, Quincy Jones, Frank Zappa,
and the unexpected presence of an electric, rather than acoustic, piano on-stage.
The Ponty- Duke performance wowed the crowd, and ushered in the West Coast counterpart
of the Eastern fusion revolution sparked by Miles Davis, The Mahavishnu Orchestra
and Weather Report. Before ’69 was out, George joined Frank Zappa (as he put together
a new “Mothers Of Invention” lineup) and toured for an entire year.

At the end of 1970, George Duke received an offer he couldn’t refuse from veteran
jazzman Julian “Cannonball” Adderly. “I joined the group in January ’71, and stayed
two years. Through Cannonball, I was given the opportunity to meet and work with
Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Dizzy Gillespie — all these great artists I’d been listening
to since I was a kid.”

I met Stanley Clarke through my association with Cannonball. We played a festival
in Pori Finland where I heard Stan with Chick Corea for the first time live” I was
astounded! Through my recordings and live performances with Cannonball and Stanley,
I developed a musical, and even more importantly, a family relationship with Flora
Purim and Airto Moriera. The 70’s were filled with musical experimentation with 
all of these great musicians and more.

In 1973, George rejoined Zappa and brought Jean-Luc Ponty with him. That band stayed
together for the next three years, until Duke left to join forces with drummer Billy
Cobham. Together, they formed a powerhouse jazz fusion unit even more popular and
influential than the earlier Duke/Ponty group.

George Duke became a solo artist in 1976, and enjoyed success with a series of fusion-
oriented LP’s such as his debut CBS LP, From Me To You. In 1978, the funk-flavored
sound of the gold album Reach For It propelled George Duke into the upper reaches
of the charts, and from small clubs to large arenas.

In the late ’70s, George decided to get into producing as a career. George began
by producing the Brazilian instrumentalist Raoul de Souza, then made his first vocal
album with singer Dee Dee Bridgewater. His breakthrough came with an album by A 
Taste Of Honey. The single, “Sukiyaki,” went to Number 1 on the pop, adult contemporary,
and R&B charts, ultimately selling over two million copies.

“From there,” says George, “things started snowballing.” He went on to produce three
albums for Jeffrey Osborne (including the Top Ten pop singles “Stay With Me Tonight”
and “On The Wings Of Love”) and two best-sellers for Deniece Williams (including
her across-the-board number one smash “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” and the chart-
topping R&B single “Do What You Feel”).

Duke also wrote and produced the number one single “Sweet Baby” for his own recording
with Stanley Clarke (The Clarke/Duke Project). Duke’s special expertise was even
tapped by such unlikely mainstream artists as Melissa Manchester and Barry Manilow.
By the end of 1988, he had produced four songs for Smokey Robinson and several songs
for saxophonist George Howard. George’s other production projects included the number
one chart hit “Call Me” by Phil Perry and several songs for Miles Jaye, vocalist
Dianne Reeves, The Pointer Sisters, 101 North, Najee, Jeffrey Osborne, Take 6, Howard
Hewett, Chante Moore, Everette Harp, Rachelle Ferrell and, most recently, Gladys
Knight, Keith Washington, Filipino star Gary Valenciano, Johnny Gill and Anita Baker.

George Duke made his debut on Elektra in February, 1985 with the Latin-flavored 
Thief In The Night. A second album, simply titled George Duke, was issued in August
1986, followed by Night After Night, George Duke’s final release for Elektra.

Through the years, along with his own releases and busy producing schedule, George
has acted as musical director for numerous artists and television specials, including
the Soul Train Music Awards (nine years), NBC’s Sunday Night Show and Anita Baker(
Duke took Anita and a 14-piece band to Washington D.C. to perform at the Kennedy
Center for The Democratic National Committee). He served as musical director for
Disney’s concert to benefit the Foundation for Pediatric AIDS For Our Children (
featuring an all-star cast that included Michael Bolton, Paula Abdul and Kris Kross)
and Disney’s Salute To Youth during the President’s Inaugural celebration. In ’92,
he went to Spain to be music director for the largest guitar festival in history,
featuring such artists as George Benson, Stanley Clarke, Larry Coryell, Paco de 
Lucia, Rickie Lee Jones and John McLaughlin. He also was at the helm for Legend 
to Legend with George Burns, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, and others.

In addition to his non-stop musical adventures, George appeared on NBC’s soap opera
Generations in ’89, playing the role of a night club owner. He also found time in
his schedule to appear on Comic Relief with Doc Severinson, donating his funds to
the homeless. That same year George recorded a third album with Stanley Clarke for
Epic Records, titled Stanley Clarke & George Duke 3.

In 1990, George Duke was named “R&B Keyboardist Of The Year” by Keyboard Magazine
for the second consecutive year. Other honors include Grammy nominations for his
production of “We Are The World” by the Children Of The World; “Sweet Baby” by the
Clarke/Duke project; “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” by Deniece Williams; “Stay With
Me Tonight” and “On The Wings Of Love” by Jeffrey Osborne; and “Fumilayo” by Dianne
Reeves. Tutu, by Miles Davis with selections produced by George Duke, won a Grammy
in 1986. Both Miles Davis Amandla (selections produced by Duke) and Al Jarreau’s
Heart’s Horizon (produced entirely by Duke) received Grammy nominations in 1990.

Duke has also established a reputation for television and film scoring work with
The Five Heartbeats film soundtrack, the title song for the movie Karate Kid III,
music for Paramount Pictures Leap Of Faith and Meteor Man, and NBC’s Leeza and Marilu
daytime talk shows.

Highlights of ’91 included a sold-out U.S. tour with Dianne Reeves and Najee, with
a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival’s 25th Anniversary and headlining the
first annual Japanese Playboy Festival at the Tokyo Dome.

In ’92, George’s Warner Bros. debut Snapshot captured the number one slot on the
jazz charts for five weeks and generated the Top Ten R&B single “No Rhyme, No Reason.”

The following year, George Duke’s Muir Woods Suite, a major orchestral piece, premiered
at the Montreux Jazz Festival and, in 1994, Duke began work on Illusions.

Reflecting on Illusions George said, “I wanted to continue what I started with the
Snapshot record, to continue doing that type of music… and I wanted to do a follow-
up to ‘No Rhyme, No Reason.’”

Following the release of Illusions in January 1995, Duke began mixing the Muir Woods
Suite which was recorded live, when originally performed at the Montreux Festival
in 1993. When not locked in the studio with the Suite, George arranged, produced
and performed on songs and albums for a number of artists, including: Najee, George
Howard, and the Winans (he arranged and produced three tracks on their Qwest album
Heart And Soul which was nominated for a Grammy). George Duke also traveled extensively,
performed a European tour with Anita Baker and a Brazilian tour with Rachelle Ferrell,
as well as toured the states with his own Duke and Friends tour featuring Phil Perry,
Howard Hewett, Dianne Reeves and George Howard. He ended the year performing in 
Jakarta with Phil Perry.

’95 also saw George involved in conducting and arranging for numerous award and 
episodic TV shows. He maintained his long time association with Soul Train, and 
served as Music Director for their 25th anniversary special and also wrote, performed
and produced the theme for the Walt Disney show Inside Out.

The beginning of ’96 saw the release of his musical and emotional tour de force 
Muir Woods Suite, which was performed by a jazz quartet made up of George Duke (
piano), Stanley Clarke (bass), Chester Thompson (drums) and Paulinho Da Costa (percussion)
with L·orchestre National de Lille, Ettore Stratta, conductor.

This was followed by more production with work on songs for Marilyn Scott, Al Jarreau
and Natalie Cole. (George produced one-third of the songs on Natalie Cole’s Stardust
LP which was nominated for two Grammys and won one). George also wrote and produced
the main title for The Malcolm and Eddie Show on UPN.

1997 began on a high note, with a trip to the Arkansas Ball for the President’s 
Inaugural, where George Duke was a featured performer and special guest. This was
followed by the spring release of George Duke’s 30th solo album and fourth release
on Warner Bros. Records, Is Love Enough? It displayed myriad influences and boundless
energy, continuing his tradition of posing questions, inspiring thought and requiring
reflection.

George Duke immersed himself in more “Love,” serving as executive producer on Warner
Bros. Records artist Marilyn Scott’s album, Avenues Of Love. (George also produced
the Grammy-nominated hit “The Look of Love,” from the same album.) That same year,
he played on yet another labelmate’s album, Kirk Whalum’s The Gospel According To
Jazz, recorded live at the Roy Acuff Theatre in September of ’97 (and released in
late ’98). The two teamed up again, along with Michael McDonald, headlining the 
inaugural event for a weeklong celebration entitled “Memphis Remembers Martin,” 
in March of ’98. Around the same time, he served as musical director for the critically-
lauded Burt Bacharach television special on Fox Network entitled One Amazing Night,
which featured Bacharach and an array of legendary and breaking artists including
Dionne Warwick, Elvis Costello, Winona Judd and Barenaked Ladies.

In addition to doing his annual Soul Train Music Award stint in ’98 and recording
and releasing his “for lovers only” Grammy-nominated After Hours, his first completely
instrumental album since 1975, he also produced three tracks for Dionne Warwick 
and one for Take 6. Next he hit the road, touring with Rachelle Ferrell, subsequently
serving as music director for The Lady of Soul Awards and the Kansas City Jazz Festival.

George also produced the Grammy award winning In the Moment CD for Dianne Reeves,
and Rachelle Ferrell’s Individuality, delaying completion of his own year 2000 solo
release, Cool. In the midst of production of his wonderfully diverse and vocally
revealing sixth Warner Bros. solo release, he headlined a tribute to Jesse Jackson
at a special birthday celebration for the renowned reverend, along with Stevie Wonder
and Erykah Badu and continued his longstanding association as musical director for
the Soul Train Awards. During the summer, Duke toured with the Montreux Jazz Festival
on Tour in the USA, for which he served as both musical director and a featured 
artist, along with an all-star cast of musicians and vocalists including Al Jarreau,
David Sanborn, Roberta Flack and Joe Sample.

Immediately following the tour, George began work on another Dianne Reeves CD, a
special tribute to Sarah Vaughn with full string orchestra. It is entitled The Calling.
October 19th George received the Prism award and began shooting a one hour biographical
television special for BET called “The House Of Duke.” Once again, Duke served as
music director for the Soul Train Christrmas Star Fest, and on December 16th plays
at The Forum in Los Angeles as part of the Stevie Wonder Toy drive for disadvantaged
kids.

In January, Duke flew to New York to sit on several panels for the International
Association of Jazz Educators, including a one hour “One on One” discussion and 
interview with Quincy Jones. Live performances in January 2001 include Las Vegas,
Vale, Colorado (w/Chante Moore) and a week at Catalina’s Bar and Grill in Los Angeles.
George also began work on a flag song for the Arthritis Association featuring artists
such as Steven Seagal, Donnie McClurkin, Bonny James and more. George’s CD Cool,
is nominated for a Grammy and an Image award. While not winning either, George did
win a Grammy for producing the Best Jazz Vocal Album In The Moment for Dianne Reeves.

In April, George re-releases Follow The Rainbow and From Me To You on CD via his
Web Site. On April 19th, a special performance of Muir Woods Suite at St. John Devine
Cathedral to aid various battered womens shelters in New York was scheduled. Upon
his return, George began work on three tracks for a Christmas CD featuring Kelly
Price.

The summer of 2001 finds Duke on the Tom Joyner Cruise with a combination vacation
and gig. Live dates include a special performance for the 100 Black Men of AmerIca
Convention in Atlanta. Off to Europe where Duke is artist in residence at the North
Sea Jazz Festival featuring performances with Dianne Reeves and Rachelle Ferrell.
A special performance of Muir Woods Suite with the Prima la Musica Orchestra form
Brussels was amazing! Also various performances at the Montreux Festival kept George
busy. One special moment was a tribute to Miles Davis featuring Marcus Miller, Christian
McBride and Richard Bona on basses; Herbie Hancock and duke on piano and synths;
Terri Lynn Carrington and Chester Thompson on drums; Wallace Roney on trumpet and
Jeff Lee Johnson on guitar.

Upon his return from Europe, rehearsals for a USA tour with Al Jarreau and Rachelle
Ferrell begin. Once again immediately following the tour, George begins rehearsals
for the Lady Of Soul Award Show featuring performances with Johnny Gil, Tyrese, 
Luther Vandross, Ronny Isley, Genuine, and El Debarge. In September, work began 
on his new CD to be released the Spring on 2002. George also was part of Wave for
Peace, a concert to raise money for the victims of the WTC incident.

Predictably, the energetic, unstoppable George Duke keeps moving from strength to
strength, bringing invention, dimension and texture to music that is alive with 
personality and rich with artistry. In the case of his passionately performed Cool,
which was nominated for an Image Award and a Grammy, Duke takes the lead on vocals
adding presence and power to his ever-evolving view of others and himself. This 
deeply revealing and yet thoroughly accessible edition of Duke celebrates life, 
love…and the “Ancient Source.”

2001 was a great year for Duke! Tami Willis from BET produced and directed a profile
called “House Of Duke.” We also find the release of the Duke produced Grammy award
winning Dianne Reeves album, “The Calling.”

He hooked up with Kenny Lattimore to write and produce a Gospel song entitled “Healing.”
George also enjoyed producing three tracks for the incredible Kelly Price for her
first Christmas offering on Def Jam.

After returning from a brief European tour, George did a USA tour with Rachelle 
Ferrell and Al Jarreau. After another Soul Train Awards ceremony, George set about
writing and recording the first CD for his new label, BPM (Big Piano Music) called
Face The Music.

The beginning of 2002 finds Duke editing and enhancing Rachelle Ferrells live CD
Live In Montreux 91-97, and putting the final touches on his new solo CD. This year
also marks his debut performance in South Africa. In May of 2002, George began rehearsals
for the second installment of Kirk Whalum’s “Gospel According To Jazz.” He also 
worked on Eddie Griffin’s movie “Undercover Brother” with Stanley Clarke, and played
a “vacation” date in Bermuda.

Duke returned to Rotterdam for several shows with Randy Crawford before returning
to LA to put the final touches on Dexter Gordons CD for BPM.

Face The Music was released on September 3rd. The rest of the year finds George 
on the road doing one promotional activity after another. Between these dates, George
found time to play for the Emeril Show, and a trip to Holland to perform with the
Metropole Orchestra.

The end of the year, he is quite busy scoring a film for Whoopi Goldberg and Danny
Glover called “Good Fences,” directed by Ernest Dickerson for Showtime. It is now
available on DVD.

2003 finds Duke still touring and promoting his new CD, while handling the MD chores
for Soul Train, The Trumpet Awards, and BET’s Gospel Celebration. The Dexter Gordon
CD, Live at the Both/And Club 1970 was released on BPM, and George found time to
recorded a tribute project for Jimi Hendrix and played several tracks on a new Will
Downing CD.

During the summer, George takes his band to Moscow to perform, and secures the release
of “Face The Music” in Europe through Challenge Records in Holland. George spends
several weeks re-establishing contacts in Europe, and then returns to finish the
DMX film.

2004 began with George performing “Muir Woods Suite” at Disney Hall with The LA 
Philharmonic, followed by a performance with The US Air Force Band at Constitution
Hall in Washington DC.

MD for the Trumpet Awards was again on tap followed by an Artist In Residence series
at Berklee College of Music.

George produced albums for Regina Belle and Marilyn Scott, and continued to tour
with his band in the US and Europe. He also found time to score his second film 
for Ernest Dickerson “Never Die Alone” staring DMX.

Duke completed work on “DUKE,” his second solo CD on his label, BPM. In September
he was MD for the Black Caucus Gala and the Thelonius Monk Institute Awards in DC.

George received the coveted Edison Life Time Achievement Award in Rotterdam in November.
January 2005, George served as artist and MD for a special series of concerts in
India featuring Al Jarreau, Stanley Clarke, Earl Klugh, L Subramanium and Ravi Coltrane.
BET and MTV India documented some of the shows.

Duke composed the theme for the “News & Notes” PBS radio show staring Ed Gordon,
and flew to Jakarta, Indonesia for the 1st Annual Jakarta Jazz festival. More live
dates followed with George promoting his new CD.

Another Marilyn Scott CD was on the way (to be released in 2006), and a very special
George Duke & Friends show was presented at the Hollywood Bowl featuring Billy Cobham,
Christian McBride, Airto, Bobby Hutcherson, Kenny Garrett, Roy Hargrove and Joe 
Sample. George & Joe also began playing some duo piano gigs in the US and Japan.

At a New Years Eve fundraiser, George saluted the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra with 
his jazz trio at the Bakery. Brain Bromberg was on bass and Terri Lyne Carrington
was the drummer. A week later, Duke was in the studio with this band recording his
new jazz CD for release in June 2006. At the end of January another project took
place in Nassau, the Bahamas for the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Tournament. George
put a band together for himself, Michael McDonald and Philip Bailey.

The prospects for 2006 look great. To begin with, “T-Jam” from the DUKE CD was nominated
for a Grammy as “Best Instrumental Pop Performance.” The new jazz CD should be released
in June and the Clarke/Duke Project begins touring at the end of May. Also some 
very interesting production projects are coming up including a foray into the Broadway
Musical scene.

![Related image](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Stanley_Clarke_%
26_George_Duke.jpg)

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