George Duke

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.

George Duke studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco State University and Tamalpais High School. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are jazz, rock music, experimental rock and post-bop. Miles Davis is recorded as an influence.

• Name — George Duke • Born — 12 January 1946 • Birthplace — San Rafael, California, U.S. • Died — 5 August 2013 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Instrument — Vocals, keyboards, keytar • Genre — * Jazz fusion • crossover jazz • funk • jazz funk • jazz rock • post-disco • smooth jazz • Occupation — Musician, composer, musical director, producer, educator • Years Active — 1966–2013 • Label — * Pacific Jazz • IBis Recordings • Pickwick • MPS • SABA • Atlantic • Epic • Elektra • Warner Bros. • Bizarre World • Telarc Jazz • Heads Up • Website — georgeduke.com

George Martin Duke was born in San Rafael, California, United States, to Thadd Duke and Beatrice Burrell, and was raised in Marin City (CA). At four years of age, he became interested in the piano. His mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert and told him about this experience. "I don't remember it too well, but my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying 'Get me a piano, get me a piano! He began his formal piano studies at the age of seven at a local Baptist church. He attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley (CA) before earning a bachelor's degree in trombone and composition, with a minor in contrabass, from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1967. 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. Duke recorded his first album in 1966. His second was with French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, with whom he performed in San Francisco. After Frank Zappa and Cannonball Adderley heard him play, both invited him to join their bands. He spent two years with Zappa as a member of The Mothers of Invention, two years with Adderley, then returned to Zappa. 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. • Illustration — Duke in concert with Stanley Clarke, 1981 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. Duke worked as musical director at the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London. In 1989, he temporarily replaced Marcus Miller as musical director of NBC's late-night music performance program Sunday Night during its first season. 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.

George Duke is recorded as pianist, composer, jazz musician, singer and record producer.

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Duke has received two awards out of nine nominations. • Illustration — Duke performing on keyboards in 2010 • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result • 1981 — Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal — The Clarke/Duke Project • 1985 — Best Recording for Children — "We Are the World (single)" • 1990 — "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)" — Fumilayo (track) • 1998 — Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) — |"The Look of Love (track)" • Best Contemporary Jazz Performance — |"After Hours" • 2000 — Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album — |"Cool" • Best Jazz Vocal Album — |"In the Moment – Live in Concert" • 2001 — Best Jazz Vocal Album — |"The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan" • 2005 — Best Pop Instrumental Performance — |"T-Jam"

• Year — Category — Nominated work — Result • 1993 — Contemporary Black Gospel Album — Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration

• Year — Category — Nominated work — Result • 2013 — Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/Group

Duke was inducted into The SoulMusic Hall of Fame at SoulMusic.com 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.