Today we wish a Happy Heavenly Birthday to the late, great George Duke, born on January 12, 1946.
Duke stood as one of the true master keyboardists of the late 20th century. In a forty plus year career, Duke performed with everyone from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa to Deniece Williams to Michael Jackson. Add to this his incredibly soulful singing voice, production work and ground-breaking arrangements on several Grammy-winning projects, and numerous film and TV scoring projects, and he amassed one of the most fascinating and rewarding careers in recorded music industry.
Today we wish a Happy Heavenly Birthday to the late, great George Duke, born on January 12, 1946.
Duke stood as one of the true master keyboardists of the late 20th century. In a forty plus year career, Duke performed with everyone from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa to Deniece Williams to Michael Jackson. Add to this his incredibly soulful singing voice, production work and ground-breaking arrangements on several Grammy-winning projects, and numerous film and TV scoring projects, and he amassed one of the most fascinating and rewarding careers in recorded music industry.
In addition to being one of the true innovators in contemporary jazz, Duke was a leader in the soul music world. He produced almost everybody at one time or another. Even in the year of his death he showed his mastery, producing Jeffrey Osborne's comeback album A Time For Love. And he also made more than 30 albums on his own, including the excellent Dream Weaver in the year of his passing. He scored major hits with songs like the funky "Reach For It" and the deliciously smooth "No Rhyme, No Reason," and topped the charts with his duet albums with Stanley Clarke.
Duke died on August 6, 2013, one year after the death of his beloved wife Corine.