Jazz Articles about George Duke

About George Duke

Profile

George Duke: The Master of the Game

by Jeff Winbush
September 2, 2013

[Editor's Note: The following piece was first published at AAJ contributor Jeff Winbush's The Domino Theory blog, and is reprinted here in tribute to George Duke, who passed away on August 5, 2013]I never caught George Duke live in concert. I never met the man in person. However, he did give me two hours of his extremely busy time to talk to me for a career-spanning interview. What came of it was the longest interview I had ever ...

Extended Analysis

George Duke: Dream Weaver

by Jeff Winbush
September 2, 2013

The end comes eventually for us all with only the time and method to be determined. Dream Weaver is an album constructed around death, loss, healing and moving on. George Duke lost his wife, Corine, in 2011 as well as guitarist Jef Lee Johnson, and vocalist Teena Marie who passed away in 2010 as she was collaborating with Duke on a jazz album.Despite the sense of loss and sorrow hanging over the recording, Dream Weaver is hardly a ...

Extended Analysis

The Complete Arista Albums Collection

by John Kelman
December 14, 2012

When fusion first emerged in the late 1960s/early '70s with artists like trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Chick Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin, the emphasis was on guitar and keyboard heavy lineups like Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra, with an equally strong predilection for the intensity and volume of rock and a kind of thundering funk that was different than the kind of music coming from R&B and soul artists like Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. Parallel to ...

Album Review

George Duke: The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection

Read "The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
April 8, 2012

The George Duke Band: The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection compiles the six albums that keyboardist, bandleader, composer, arranger and producer George Duke released on Epic Records between 1977 and 1979, accompanied by extensive and reflective notes on each album personally written by Duke, who wrote, arranged and produced just about every track. As an instrumentalist, Duke strongly resembles one of his most famous employers, soul-jazz saxophonist and bandleader Cannonball Adderley: Duke plays in an enthusiastic and compelling ...

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Extended Analysis

Stanley Clarke: The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection

by John Kelman
February 29, 2012

Legacy Recordings' recent spate of Complete Albums Collection box sets have righted a whole slew of wrongs by bringing long out-of-print recordings back in a reasonably priced and tidily collected series. They may be relatively light on production values--simple clamshell-style boxes, mini-LP cardboard sleeves, and booklets whose information, beyond detailed track and personnel listings, is largely dependent upon how much the artist has to say, if anything at all--but the opportunity to collect an entire discography from a specific period ...

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Extended Analysis

The Complete 1970s Epic Albums Collection

by Chris May
February 27, 2012

The six albums comprising this collection of George Duke's 1977-80 Epic releases are of uneven quality—as the keyboardist himself acknowledges in the liner booklet—but they make an interesting historical artifact. From a “jazz" point of view, five of the discs approach irrelevance, but the sixth, 1980's samba-informed A Brazilian Love Affair, is a classic which still has alluring legs. The back-story: Duke is one of those keyboard players who began their careers in the mid-1960s playing acoustic ...

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Interview

George Duke: Facing the Music

by Jeff Winbush
December 20, 2010

In jazz, there are two seminal figures called “Duke." For Edward Kennedy Ellington, “Duke" was a nickname. For George Duke, it is his surname, but the similarities with Duke Ellington don't end there. As a pianist, arranger, songwriter, bandleader and composer, George Duke has solidified his reputation as one of jazz's most important figures. Also a bold innovator who isn't afraid to confound admirers and critics alike, Duke dived headfirst into funk with his irresistible hit “Reach For It," an ...