george duke From: http://music.excite.com/artist/biography/615360 In 1969 he began playing with French violinist Ponty, Jean-Luc, using electric piano to accompany Ponty's plugged-in violin. He played on King Kong, an album of music of Frank Zappa composed for Ponty. He then joined Zappa's group in 1970, an experience that transformed his music. As he put it, previously he had been too 'musically advanced' to play rock 'n' roll piano triplets. Zappa encouraged him to sing and joke and use electronics. Together they wrote 'Uncle Remus' for Apostrophe (1972), a song about black attitudes to oppression. His keyboards contributed to a great edition of the Mothers Of Invention- captured on the outstanding Roxy & Elsewhere (1975) - which combined fluid jazz playing with rock and avant garde sonorities. In 1972 he toured with Cannonball Adderley (replacing Joe Zawinul). Duke had always had a leaning towards soul jazz and after he left Zappa, he went for full-frontal funk. I Love The Blues, She Heard My Cry (1975) combined a retrospective look at black musical forms with warm good humour and freaky musical ideas; a duet with Johnny Guitar Watson was particularly successful. Duke started duos with fusion power-drummer Cobham, Billy, and virtuoso bassist Clarke, Stanley, playing quintessential 70s jazz rock - amplification and much attention to 'chops' being the order of the day. Duke always had a sense of humour: 'Dukey Stick' (1978) sounded like a Funkadelic record. The middle of the road beckoned, however, and by Brazilian Love Affair (1979) he was merely providing high-class background music. In 1982 Dream On showed him happily embracing west-coast hip easy listening. However, there has always been an unpredictable edge to Duke. The band he put together for the Wembley Nelson Mandela concert in London backed a stream of soul singers, and his arrangement of 'Backyard Ritual' on Miles Davis 's Tutu (1986) was excellent. He collaborated with Clarke again for the funk-styled 3 and in 1992 he bounced back with the jazz fusion Snapshot, followed by the orchestral suite Enchanted Forest in 1996, and Is Love Enough? in 1997. October 31, 2009, George Duke did a concert with the Dutch Metropole
Orkest in Amsterdam, NL. The concert also featured Napoleon Murphy Brock
and Izaline Calister (as guests). August 2, 2012, George Duke and Jean-Luc Ponty performed at the Zappanale festival in Bad Doberan, Germany, as The Brothers Of Invention. They played original compositions and some Zappa pieces. |
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the below picture shows (former Arf Society president) Thomas Dippel and George Duke after the concert George Duke did with the Metropole Orkest in Amsterdam on 2009/10/31. |
George passed away on August 5, 2013. He was being treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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discography
1 | george duke: presented by the jazz workshop 1966 of san francisco
(1) (1966, lp, ??, saba sb 15074) |
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1967 henderson, joe- milestone years | ||||
2 | george duke: save the country (2) (1969, lp, usa, pacific jazz ln-10127) - feat. glenn ferris |
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1969 jones, quincy- i heard that! |
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1969 jean-luc ponty- experience | ||||
1969 jean-luc ponty- electric connection | ||||
1969 jean-luc ponty- live at donte's | ||||
jean-luc ponty: king kong
(5) (1970, lp, usa, world pacific jazz st 20172) – incl. various frank zappa compositions |
||||
11 |
frank
zappa: chunga's revenge
(1970, lp, usa, bizarre) |
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1971 otis, shuggie- freedom flight | ||||
13 |
frank
zappa: 200 motels
(1971, 2lp, usa, united artists) |
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cannonball
adderley: the black messiah (1971, lp, usa, capitol) - feat. george duke |
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1972
adderley, cannonball- music you all |
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15 |
frank
zappa: waka/jawaka
(1972, lp, usa, bizarre) |
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16 |
the
mothers: the grand wazoo (1972, lp, usa, bizarre) |
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1973 ammons, gene- brasswind | ||||
1973 jones, quincy- you've got it, bad girl | ||||
17 |
the
mothers: over-nite sensation
(1973, lp, usa, discreet) |
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1973 henderson, joe- canyon lady | ||||
1973 purim, flora- butterfly dreams | ||||
1973 williams, joe- joe williams live | ||||
3 | george duke: the inner source (1973, 2lp, usa, mps records 2920912-1) |
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1974 adderley, nat- double exposure |
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1974 cobham, billy- crosswinds | ||||
1974 adderley, cannonball- pyramid | ||||
18 |
frank
zappa: apostrophe (') (1974, lp, usa, discreet) |
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19 |
zappa / mothers: roxy & elsewhere (1974, 2lp, usa, discreet) |
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1974 purim, flora- stories to tell | ||||
1974 ellis, herb- soft shoe | ||||
1974 ellis, herb- after you've gone | ||||
davil axelrod: heavy axe (1974, lp, usa, ??) - feat. george duke, jay migliori, johnny guitar watson |
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4 | george duke: faces in reflection (4) (1974, lp, ??, mps records 2122018-4) |
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1975 henderson, eddie- sunburst |
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1975 adderley, cannonball- phenix | ||||
20 |
frank
zappa and the
mothers of invention: one size fits all
(1975, lp, usa, discreet) |
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21 |
zappa / beefheart / mothers: bongo
fury (1975, lp, usa, discreet) |
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1975 clarke, stanley- journey to love | ||||
1975 rollins, sonny- nucleus | ||||
1975 tjader, cal- amazonas | ||||
5 | george duke: feel (1975, lp, ger, mps 2122312-4) - feat. obdewl'x (frank zappa) - re-released on cd in 2008 |
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6 | george duke: the aura will prevail
(1975, lp, usa, mps mc 25613) - incl. ‘echidna's arf’,’uncle remus’ (frank zappa) ; feat. napoleon murphy brock |
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the brecker brothers:
collection volume one (1975, lp, usa, arista) = compilation |
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1976 cobham, billy- live' on tour in europe |
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billy cobham:
life and times (1976, lp, usa, atl sd18166) - feat. allan zavod and george duke |
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1976 purim, flora- open your eyes | ||||
1976 purim, flora- encounter | ||||
1976 clarke, stanley- school days | ||||
pete magadini: polyrhythm (1976, lp, can, briko records) - feat. george duke |
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7 | george duke: i love the blues, she heard my cry (1976, lp, usa, mps) - feat.bruce fowler, johnny "guitar" watson, ruth underwood |
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the brecker brothers:
collection volume two (19??, lp, usa, rca) = compilation |
||||
8 | george duke: liberated fantasies (8) (1976, lp, ??, mps records) - feat. napoleon murphy brock & ruth underwood |
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raul de souza: sweet lucy (1977, lp, usa, ??) - feat. george duke, ian underwood, kerry mcnabb |
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1977 bridgewater, dee dee- just family |
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1977
montreux summit vol.1 |
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1977 rollins, sonny- easy living | ||||
1977 watanabe, sadao- bird of paradise | ||||
9 | george duke: from me to you (9) (1977, lp, ??, epic records pe 34469) - feat.walt fowler |
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10 | george duke: reach for it (10) (1977, lp, ??, epic records epc 82216) |
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various artists:
rock around the world #199 (radio show) (1978, lp-promo, usa, rock around the world) - feat. an interview with george duke / incl. 'fifty-fifty', 'be-bop tango' and 'inca roads', broadcast on 1978/05/28 |
||||
raul de
souza: don't ask my neighbors |
||||
1978 purim, flora- everyday, everynight | ||||
1978 white, michael [violin]- x factor | ||||
1978 hitter- hitter (producer) | ||||
1978 montreux summit, vol. 2 | ||||
24 |
frank
zappa: studio tan
(1978, lp, usa, discreet) |
|||
11 | george duke: don't let go (11) (1978, lp, ??, epic records epc 82821) - feat.napoleon murphy brock |
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12 | george duke: the dream (12) (1978, lp, ??, mps records 5d064-60327) |
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george duke: rock around the world (1978, lp, usa, ratw 199) = sampler // – incl. ?? (frank zappa) |
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1979 bridgewater, dee dee- bad for me |
||||
1979 moreira, airto- touching you...touching me | ||||
1979 hubbard, freddie- skagly | ||||
1979 cobham, billy- b.c. | ||||
1979 jackson, michael- off the wall | ||||
25 |
frank
zappa: sleep dirt
(1979, lp, usa, discreet) |
|||
frank
zappa: sleep dirt
(25) (1979, lp, usa, discreet) |
||||
1979 clarke, stanley- i wanna play for you | ||||
george duke: star edition (1976, 2lp, germany, mps) - incl. 'echidna's arf (of you)' (frank zappa) |
||||
13 | george duke: follow the rainbow (13) (1979, lp, usa, epic pe 35701) |
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14 | george duke: master of the game (14) (1979, lp, ??) |
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1980 perry, phil- heart of the man |
||||
george duke: star edition (19??, lp, ger, mps 0088.047) = sampler // – incl. ‘echidna's arf’ (frank zappa) |
||||
1980 jarreau, al- this time | ||||
1980 benson, george- give me the night | ||||
1980 rollins, sonny- love at first sight | ||||
1980 brecker brothers- detente (producer) | ||||
15 | george duke: brazilian love affair (15) (1980, lp, ??) |
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1981 clarke/duke project |
||||
1981 jarreau, al- breakin' away | ||||
1981 clarke, stanley- clarke/duke project, vol. 1 | ||||
david sanborn: as we speak (1981, lp, usa, warner brothers) - feat. george duke, robert martin |
||||
1982 franklin, aretha- jump to it | ||||
1982 osborne, jeffrey- jeffrey osborne | ||||
16 | george duke: dream on (16) (1982, lp, ??, epic records epc 85215) |
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george duke:
the 1976 solo keyboard album (1982, lp, europe, epic) = re-issue of "the dream" (1978) |
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1983 clarke-duke project 2 |
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1983 rufus- seal i red (producer) | ||||
1983 sembello, michael- bossa nova hotel | ||||
1983 bailey, philip- continuation | ||||
1983 osborne, jeffrey- stay with me tonight | ||||
1983 ponty, jean-luc- individual choice | ||||
1983 subramaniam, l.- spanish wave | ||||
1983 clarke, stanley- clarke/duke project, vol. 2 (producer) | ||||
17 | george duke: guardian of the light (17) (1983, lp, ??) |
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1984 shalamar- heartbreak |
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1984 williams, deniece- let's hear it for the boy | ||||
40 |
frank zappa: them or us (1984, 2lp, usa, barking pumpkin) |
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1984
footloose- footloose |
||||
1984 clarke, stanley- time exposure | ||||
18 | george duke: rendezvous (18) (1984, lp, nl, epic 26059) |
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1985 bailey, philip- wonders of his love (producer) |
||||
1985 manchester, melissa- mathematics | ||||
19 | george duke: thief in the night (19) (1985, lp, ger, elektra 960 398-1) |
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1986 bofill, angela- best of angela bofill (producer) |
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1986
hewett, howard- i commit to love |
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1986
frank zappa- apostrophe/over-nite sensation |
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1986
miles davis- tutu |
||||
20 | george duke: george duke (20) (1986, lp, ger, elektra 960 480-1) - feat. napoleon murphy brock |
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1987
earth, wind & fire- touch the world |
||||
1987 vaughan, sarah- brazilian romance | ||||
1987 cobham, billy- picture this | ||||
1987 mills, stephanie- if i were your woman | ||||
1987 hiroshima- go | ||||
1987 scofield, john- loud jazz | ||||
1987 watanabe, kazumi- birds of passage | ||||
1988 baker, anita- giving you the best that i got | ||||
1988 jackson, paul jr.- i came to play | ||||
1988 williams, deniece- as good as it gets | ||||
frank zappa: the guitar world according to frank zappa (1987, mc, usa, ??) |
||||
1988
frank zappa- you can't do that on stage anymore (sampler) |
||||
51 | frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.1 (1988, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
|||
52 | frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.2 (1988, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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1988 jarreau, al- heart's horizon | ||||
1988 knight, gladys- all our love | ||||
1988 djavan- bird of paradise | ||||
1988 clarke, stanley- if this bass could only talk | ||||
1989 karate kid 3 (producer) | ||||
1989 labelle, patti- be yourself | ||||
54 | frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.3 (1989, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
|||
1989 wilson, nancy- nancy now! | ||||
1989 davis, miles- amandla | ||||
1989 klugh, earl- whispers and promises | ||||
1989 watanabe, sadao- selected | ||||
1989 howard, george- personal | ||||
21 | george duke: night after night (21) (1989, lp, ??) |
|||
1990
bailey, philip- inside out |
||||
1990
jackson, paul jr.- out of the shadows |
||||
1990
reeves, dianne- never too far |
||||
1990
clarke, stanley- 3 |
||||
1990
cooper, craig t.- got that thang |
||||
1990
watanabe, sadao- front seat (arranger,
vocals (bckgr),producer, synclavier) |
||||
1990
laws, hubert- my time will come |
||||
1991
north, lol- forever yours |
||||
1991
jaye, miles- strong |
||||
57 |
frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.4 |
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1991
isley brothers- tracks of life |
||||
1991
five heartbeats (arranger, vocals,
producer) |
||||
1991
reeves, dianne- dianne reeves |
||||
chester thompson: a joyful noise (1991, cd, usa, blue moon / moo records r2 79341) - feat.charles owens, walt fowler, steve fowler, bruce fowler and george duke |
||||
frank zappa: freaks & motherfu**** (1991, cd, usa, rhino foo-eee records r2 70539) |
||||
zappa / mothers: unmitigated audacity |
||||
frank zappa: piquantique (1991, cd, usa, rhino foo-eee records r2 70544) |
||||
zappa / mothers: disconnected synapses |
||||
zappa / mothers: tengo
na minchia tanta |
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frank zappa: at the circus |
||||
22 |
george duke: snapshot (1992, cd, ??, ??) |
|||
1992
sister sledge- best of sister sledge (1973-1985) (producer) |
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1992
najee- just an illusion |
||||
59 |
frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.6 |
|||
1992
ferrell, rachelle- rachelle ferrell (producer) |
||||
1992
love songs- love songs [sony] |
||||
1992
moore, chante- precious (organ,
synthesizer, bass, percussion, piano, strings, |
||||
drums, horn, french horn, keyboards, bells, produ) |
||||
60 |
frank zappa: playground psychotics |
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1992
leap of faith- leap of faith (producer) |
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1992
passenger 57- passenger 57 |
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1992
harp, everette- everette harp (producer) |
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1992
howard, george- love and understanding |
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1993 meteor man- meteor man |
||||
1993
jackson, paul jr.- river in the desert |
||||
1993
howard, george- when summer comes |
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1993
clarke, stanley- east river drive |
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1993
ponty, jean-luc- jean-luc ponty with the george duke |
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1993
washington, keith- you make it easy |
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george duke: three originals (1993, cd, ger, mps 519198-2) = sampler // - incl. ‘echidna's arf’,’uncle remus’ (frank zappa) |
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1994
winbush, angela- angela winbush |
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1994
harp, everette- common ground |
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1994
baker, anita- rhythm of love (percussion) |
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1994
knight, gladys- just for you (keyboards,
drum programming) |
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1994
reeves, dianne- quiet after the storm (piano, arranger, producer, synclavier) |
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1994
scofield, john- liquid fire: the best of john scofi |
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1994
purim, flora- now go ahead & open your eyes |
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1994
george duke- three originals |
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23 |
george duke: illusions |
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1995
hewett, howard- it's time |
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1995
esquire jazz collection: crosstown |
||||
1995
dells passionate breezes: the best of the (producer, vocal arrangements) |
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1995
winans heart & soul |
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1995
jazz to the world jazz to the world |
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1995
between the sheets, vol. 2 (producer) |
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1995
najee- songs from the key of life |
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1995
escovedo, pete- flying south |
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1995
scott, marilyn- take me with you |
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1995
mason, harvey- ratamacue |
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1995
cooper, craig t.- very best of craig t. cooper |
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1996
groove on!, vol. 3 (arranger, conductor, producer) |
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1996
cutlass, frankie- cypher, part 3 |
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64 |
frank zappa: the lost episodes
|
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65 |
frank zappa: lather
|
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1996
williams, deniece- best of deniece williams: gonna tak |
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1996
songs of west side story |
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1996
whitted, pharez- mysterious cargo (arranger, keyboards, producer) |
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1996
jackson, paul jr.- never alone: duets |
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1996
supernatural fairy tales: the progr |
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1996
merry soulful christmas (producer) |
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1996 cole, natalie- stardust arranger, producer, vibes, liner notes, vocal arrangements, |
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horn
arrangements) |
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1996
jarreau, al- best of al jarreau
(piano, keyboards, lyricist, producer, horn |
||||
arrangements, synthesizer overdubs) |
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1996
place of hope- place of hope synthesizer, (piano, vocals (bckgr), producer,
mixing |
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producer, vocal producer) |
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1996
white, lenny- renderers of spirit |
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1996
bedroom tenors- bedroom tenors |
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1996
mills, stephanie- greatest hits (producer) |
||||
66 |
frank zappa: frank zappa plays the
music of frank zappa (1996, cd, usa, barking pumpkin) |
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24 |
george duke: muir woods suite (1996, cd, ??, ??) |
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1997
cats don't dance- cats don't dance (arranger, producer) |
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1997
miller, byron- until |
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67 |
frank zappa: have i offended someone? (1997, cd, usa, ryko) |
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1997
harp, everette- what's going on |
||||
1997
frank zappa- strictly genteel |
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25 |
george duke: is love enough ? (1997, cd, ??, ??) |
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1997
jazz fusion, vol. 1- jazz fusion, vol. 1 (keyboards, producer) |
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1997
berlin, irving- irving berlin songbook |
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1997
sample, joe- sample this |
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1997
tis the season- tis the season (arranger, keyboards, vocals (bckgr), producer) |
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1997
living single: music from & inspire (arranger,
keyboards, producer) |
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1997
fambrough, charles- upright citizen |
||||
1997
pieces of a dream- pieces (producer) |
||||
1997
best of smooth jazz- best of smooth jazz (arranger,
producer) |
||||
1997
osborne, jeffrey- something warm for christmas
(keyboards, producer) |
||||
kirk whalum: the gospel according to jazz - chapter I (1998, cd, usa, warner gospel) - feat. george duke |
||||
1998
perry, phil- one heart, one love |
||||
1998
scott, marilyn- avenues of love (bass, keyboards, producer, executive producer) |
||||
1999
captain beefheart- the dust blows forward |
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26 |
george duke:
cool (2000, cd, ??, ??) |
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brookins, robert- let it be me |
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wilson, nancy- this mother's daughter |
||||
howard, george- reflections |
||||
chocolate jam co.- spread of the future |
||||
billy cobham: crosswinds (????) - feat.george duke |
||||
billy cobham: inner conflicts (????) - feat.george duke & ruth underwood |
||||
lee ritenour: captain fingers (????) - feat.george duke |
||||
purim, flora- carry on |
||||
concord jazz: collector's series
sa |
||||
vaughan, sarah- this is jazz, vol. 20 | ||||
kirk whalum: the gospel
according to jazz - chapter II (2002, cd, usa, word entertainment) - feat. george duke |
||||
george duke: face the music (2004, cd, usa, jj-tracks 77025) |
||||
various artists: power of soul - a tribute to jimi
hendrix (2004, cd, ??, ??) - feat.george duke |
||||
74 |
frank zappa: quaudiophiliac (2004, dvda, usa, dts entertainment 69286-01125-9-9) |
|||
george duke: in a mellow tone (2006, cd, ??, ??) |
||||
81 |
frank zappa: the dub room special (2007, cd, usa, zappa records) |
|||
83 |
frank zappa: one shot deal (83) (2008, cd, usa, zappa records) |
|||
george
duke: my soul - the complete mps fusion recordings |
||||
george
duke: faces in reflection (2008, cd, ??, ??) - remastered digipack re-release of the 1974 album |
||||
george
duke: dukey treats (2008, cd, ??, ??) - feat. napoleon murphy brock |
||||
george
duke: feel (2008, cd, usa, verve / mps) - remastered digipack re-release of the 1975 album ; feat. obdewl'x (frank zappa) |
||||
george duke: i love the blues, she heard my cry (2008, cd, ??, ??) - remastered digipack re-release of the 1976 album ; feat.bruce fowler, johnny "guitar" watson, ruth underwood |
||||
tony palmer's film of frank zappa's 200 motels (2010, dvd, uk, tony palmer) |
||||
kirk whalum: the gospel according to jazz - chapter II (2010, 2cd, usa, top drawer records) - feat. george duke |
||||
george duke: dukey treats (2010, cd, usa, ??) |
||||
george duke: déjà vu (2010, cd, usa, ??) |
||||
al jarreau and the george duke trio: live at the half note
club 1965 vol.1 (2011, cd, usa, george duke enterprises) |
||||
frank zappa:
penguin in bondage - the little known history of the mothers of
invention (2011, download, usa, zappa records) |
||||
george duke: live in
prague (2011, dvd, czech, good tree edition / marecam) - incl. a frank zappa medley |
||||
miles davis: the complete miles davis at montreux 1973 - 1991 (2011, 20cd, usa, sony) - feat. tom malone and george duke |
||||
miles davis: miles ! the
definitive miles davis at montreux dvd collection 1973 - 1991 (2011, 10dvd, usa, eagle rock) - feat. tom malone, george duke and jean-luc ponty |
||||
christian mcbride:
conversations with christian (2011, cd, usa, mack avenue) - features george duke on 'mcdukey blues' |
||||
dexter gordon: live at
the both / and club (2012, cd, nl, challenge records jj tracks) - feat. george duke |
||||
u-nam & friends:
weekend in l.a. - a tribute to george benson (2012, cd, usa, sky town records) - feat. george duke |
||||
lee ritenour: rhythm sessions (2012, cd, usa, ??) - feat. george duke |
||||
george duke: dream weaver (2013, cd, usa, ??) |
||||
various artists:
shark gathering in post industrial bad doberan 2012 (2013, 3dvdr, ger, private release / rr productions) - feat. frank zappa, l.shankar, the ensemble modern & incl. various bands playing zappa compositions |
||||
william
shatner: ponder the mystery (2013, cd, usa, cleopatra records) - feat. steve vai, george duke, zoot horn rollo |
||||
96 |
frank zappa:
road tapes - finlandia hall, helsinki, finland 23, 24 august 1973 (2013, cd, usa, vaulternative records) |
|||
97 |
frank zappa: a token of his extreme soundtrack (2013, cd, usa, zappa records) |
|||
102 |
frank
zappa & the mothers: roxy the movie (2015, cd+dvd, eu, eagle vision eagdv050) |
|||
102 |
frank
zappa & the mothers: roxy the movie (2015, dvd, eur, eagle vision) |
|||
102 |
frank
zappa & the mothers: roxy the movie (2015, blu-ray, eur, eagle vision) |
|||
103 |
frank zappa:
road tapes - tyrone guthrie theater, minneapolis, mn 5 july 1970 (2016, 2cd, usa, vaulternative records) |
|||
104 |
frank zappa:
the crux of the biscuit (2016, cd, usa, zappa records zr20020) |
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billy
cobham: live 1976 from new york hofstra playhouse (2016, cd, uk, gonzo multimedia gonzo hst358cd) - incl. 'echidna's arf' (f.zappa), 'uncle remus' (duke/zappa) |
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george
duke: berlin 77 (2020, download, --, lo-light records) - incl. 'echidna's arf' (f.zappa), 'uncle remus' (duke/zappa) |
semi-official releases
frank zappa and captain beefheart:
providence college, rhode island, april 26, 1975 (2014, 2cd, uk, keyhole kh2cd9028) |
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frank
zappa: vpro radio piknik, uddel, june 18, 1970 (remastered) (2015, spotify) |
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frank
zappa: the muffin man goes to college (live) (2015, spotify, --, sonic boom) = 1975/04/26 providence concert |
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frank zappa featuring captain beefheart:
the muffin mand goes to college (2018, lp, uk, cult legends) = 1975/04/26 providence concert |
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random notes
Birthday:
Jan 12, 1946 in San Rafael, CA
From: Scott Yanow, AMG
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From: Unknown
Released many jazz albums, some of which are:
"Faces
in Reflection" - 1974
Ndugu
(Leon Chancler) - drums
John
Heard - bass
No
FZ related material
"Feel"
- 1974
Ndugu
(Leon Chancler) - drums
John
Heard - bass
FZ
appears as Obdewl X on "Love" and "Old Slipper"
"The
Aura Will Prevail" - 1975
cover
of "Enchidna's Arf" and "Uncle Remus"
Ndugu
(Leon Chancler) - drums
Alfonso
Johnson - bass
No
Zappa alumnus on this one.
"I
Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry"
Tom
Fowler - bass
Ruth
Underwood - marimba, gongs, percussion
Bruce
Fowler - trombone
Johnny
'Guitar' Watson - vocals, guitar
Not
all the above musicians are featured on all tracks.
"Liberated
Fantasies"
Napoleon
Murphy Brock - vocals
Ruth
Underwood - voice of riddle
From: Unknown
Released collaborations with Stanley Clarke (even doing "Louie Louie")
Also
reasonably popular as a producer among young black artists. Continues
to release albums.
George Duke produced one or two songs for one of the last Miles Davis albums.
George
is currently working on his next solo release. Recent projects include
production work for Johnny Gill and Anita Baker, music direction for
Comic Relief, incidental music for assorted children's television shows, and
"The Muir Woods Suite", an album of original orchestral music.
(source: Keyboard
Magazine, April 1994)
George Duke did production and practically all instruments on the Denise Williams world-wide hit "Let's hear it for the boy" sometime in the mid/late 80s. I've seen an interview where from memory he said that he did most of the instrumentation using memorymoogs and minimoogs.
Both George Duke and Ian Underwood performed on Quincy Jones: "Back on the Block". Ian did synthesizer programming on several songs, and George is featured soloist playing fender Rhodes on two songs ("New Man Woman" and "Brasilian Wedding Song")
Joseph Evans sez:
George produced and penned the soundtrack to the Steve Martin flic "Leap of
Faith."
Michael
Cysouw(m.cysouw@let.kun.nl) sez:
George
produced an played on 'Quiet after the Storm' by Dianna Reeves. He is credited
as the composer of the number 'smile' on this album. And he produced, arranged
and played on the number 'Backyeard Rituals' on the album 'Tutu' by Miles Davis.
Jan van Kemenade sez:
In my
collection there are three albums by George Duke:
Follow
the Rainbow ('79) : with Napoleon Murphy Brock on vocals.
Dream
On ('82)
Thief
in the Night ('85)
all
three albums list Herb Cohen as manager and the first two have Kerry McNabb as
engineer. George Duke also played with Stanley
Clarke (that's what I contributed a long time ago without naming any albums) He
can be heard on the albums 'Schooldays' ('76) and 'I Wanna Play for You'
('79).
George also plays on 1 track of Jean-Luc Ponty's 'Individual Choice' ('83).
George played keyboards and produced an album by Jeffrey Osborne
'Don't Stop' ('84)
From: "depp@smpt.rmcil.edu" (depp@smpt.rmcil.edu)
Mr Duke performed in a festival called Montreux Summitt
with notable players such as: Billy Cobham, Bob James, Eric Gale,
Alphonse Johnson, Maynard Ferguson to name just a few.
It is overall
an awe-inspiring lp. I have not
found it on cd, though.
From: jhenley@mail.utexas.edu (John Henley)
Date: 5 Jan 1998
14:51:50 GMT
Shortly before taking off for Xmas vacation (and being away from computers for
many days) I
was channel-surfing, and stopped briefly on Black Entertainment Television where
a tuxedo-clad big band was doing a shuffle before an equally tuxedo-clad audience.
Seems it was a taped broadcast of a big jazz concert recently held in
Kansas City,
I think it was. Anyhoo, a few shots
into this I recognized the bandleader as none
other than our old friend George Duke. (And
let me tell ya something: from the
looks of him, George learned his fitness regimen from FZ
- let's just say the man has
become rather pear-shaped.)
To my
delight, when they came to the end of this shuffle, George gave a hand signal (that's
right) and the band finished the piece by ripping into the last 24 or so bars of
"Echidna's Arf." Probably
not many people in that audience knew what they were hearing,
but it knocked me silly. And when
they were done you could see one of the trumpet
players take a deep breath, as if it'd taken all he had to get through those 24 bars.
From: Martin Higgs (martin@higgs.powernet.co.uk)
There is an interview with George Duke in the May issue of UK mag "Sound
On Sound". Here are a couple
of pieces where he talks of working
with FZ.
'Having initially collaborated with Frank Zappa on his 'classical-type project' King Kong, with Jean-Luc Ponty, Duke went on to be a mainstay of Zappa's live bands in the 1970s - an experience which was to prove very influential:
"I
learned so much from Frank. I went
to this rehearsal, and we were doing
this tune, and Frank had written out my part, which was a very simple
four-to-the-floor keyboard riff 'pompompompom...'. I'd never heard
this side of Frank. I'd only heard
the radical stuff. And the whole
day went like that, and I wasn't feeling comfortable at all.
Frank
kept looking at me and asking: 'what's wrong with you?'
In the end
I threw my hands up and said: 'I can't play this, man!' And he sais:
'Why? And I said: 'I just can't.' And Frank asked: 'Is there something
wrong with your hand?' And I said: 'No.' So he continued: 'well,
all you have to do is go 'pompompompom' and tap out the riff".
I
responed: 'Yes I know. But you don't understand Frank, I...' And he interrupted:
'Oh, I see, you're a heavy musician. It's beneath you to play
that.' I mumbled: 'Well.. well... well... can't I play another idea?'
So I started playing some other stuff. But Frank stopped me: 'no,
no, no, its like this... 'pompompompompom". But, eventually he broke
me down. He told me: 'Look, you can be heavy *and* have a sense of
humour. Don't be serious.' And I got it."
(...)
"... I think I made my mark playing instruments like the Minimoog, because I learnt how to make them talk; I learnt how to get the blues out of them. And that's something for which I have to thank Zappa, because he was the one who got me to play a lot of trombone, so I initially played Fender Rhodes and the trombone, and then the ARP Odyssey. I just wanted to do it all. Frank had written parts for the synths, and since there was no patch saving, I'd made all these marks on the synth, because Frank knew if the sound wasn't right. He'd describe certain sounds for me, I'd try to find them, and once I got there he'd say: 'OK, thats it.' And I'd mark it all down. For live playing I had to choreograph everything, so that I knew which parts to play and when to change the synth sounds."
(...)
* * *
regarding the albums on which her recorded frank zappa material
* * *
From:
Lewis Saul (lsaul@azstarnet.com)
Naturally, the Echidna's kicks serious ass.
From:
Patrick Neve (splat@darkwing.uoregon.edu)
"Aura" was reissued on a double CD called "Three Originals"
(MPS, 519 198-2). While the issue includes three out-of-print albums from that
era, it unfortunately does not include the album "Feel", which is out
of print as well and features FZ on guitar.
From:
Patrick Neve (splat@darkwing.uoregon.edu)
George Duke has always been one of my favorite FZ memebers so I always snap up a
used LP when I see one cheaply, hoping for some good music. Mostly I've been
pretty disappointed with his solo career, at least the records I was finding,
but I kept on because I knew what he was capable of. Well I finally broke down
and bought the "Three Originals" re-issue thing and the music
seriously cooks! I had hesitations
about buying a double CD basically for two songs (the Zappa covers) but believe
me, if you're a George Duke fan this is a good purchase.
This is getting harder to find, and CD Universe is discounting it.
Is it going out of print? Anyways, I got mine from CD Universe for $24 which I thought
was a real good deal-o.
...Oh, and guess what else?
The second disc was loose!
From:
EMDEBE@village.uunet.be - October 8, 1998
A couple of lines from the liner notes by J"rg Eipasch (freelance
journalist):
From 1970 to 1975, interrupted only by a two-year interlude with Cannonball Adderley, George Duke performed and recorded with various Zappa ensembles. During this time with what was probably the Mothers Of Invention's most popular line-up, Duke became acquainted with rock & roll and electric keyboards. As a pioneer of the rather new technology of synthesizers, George Duke has to be mentioned in the same breath as Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Don Preston, Jan Hammer, and Sun Ra.
The three albums presented in this two record CD edition had been recorded towards the end of Duke's second period with Frank Zappa, which produced classics such as 'Over-nite Sensation', 'Apostrophe', 'Roxy & Elsewhere', and 'One Size Fits All'...
The music of 'I Love The Blues, She Heard Me Cry', 'The Aura Will Prevail', and 'Liberated Fantasies' is both reflecting the influence Frank Zappa's freaked-out stuff had on George Duke and indicating the keyboardist's later dedication to fusion, funk, and soul music. 'Uncle Remus' and 'Echidna's Arf', songs which had been released previously by Zappa on 'Apostrophy' and 'Roxy & Elsewhere' respectively, display most obviously George Duke's Mothers (Of Invention) fixation. But you can also detect the distinct influences of Zappa's compositional signature in Duke's own 'That's What She Said', a complex, polyrhythmic tune featuring Emil Richards' wizardry on marimba and the violin of John Wittenberg, standing in for the Mother's protagonists Ruth Underwood and Jean-Luc Ponty.
From:
Bossk (R)(wikberg@mbox301.swipnet.se)
George Duke's
extremely soulful solo version of "Uncle Remus" has a slightly
different twist to the lyrics than the version on APOSTROPHE ('). On APOSTROPHE
('), the second verse goes:
We look pretty sharp in these clothes,
Unless
we is sprayed with a hose:
It
ain't bad in the day,
When
they squirt it your way,
Except
in the winter, when it's froze,
And
it's hard when it hits on your nose ...
But Duke's version changes it to:
It ain't bad in the day,
UNLESS
they squirt it your way ...
Some people think this is a totally harmless change, others that it ruins the song completely. What do you think?
Promoting his new album, George Duke will be doing a concert in Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL, 2004/02/15.
line-up: George Duke (vocals/keyboards/piano), Ray Fuller (guitar), Michael Manson (bass), Gordon Campbell (drums) and Lori Perry (lead vocals).
-- info: Zjakki Willems
November 22, 2004, George Duke will receive an Edison (Dutch music award) for his oevre at the 'Doelen' in Rotterdam, NL. For the occasion he will be giving a concert.
-- info: Aad Hoogesteger
December 12, 2004, Dutch radio show "Mix Van Dat Alles" featured special guests George Duke and Napoleon Murphy Brock in the studio. Co de Kloet talked with them about their time with Zappa and about their musical colaboration.
-- info: Aad Hoogesteger
2009/11
Maandagavond
9 november hoor je in Radio 6 Live The Bands opnamen van een exclusief
concert van het Metropole Orkest o.l.v. Jules Buckley met de fameuze
George Duke. Dit concert vond plaats zaterdag 31 oktober j.l. in de
Melkweg in Amsterdam. Naast
'features' van een aantal orkestleden traden als gastsolisten aan:
Izaline Calister (zojuist bekroond met een Edison voor haar cd
'Speransa') en Napoleon Murphy Brock (2008 Grammy Award). Op het
programma staan o.m. de Duke-stukken Sausalito, Festival, Dukey Treats,
Adonis en het bekende stuk dat hij met Frank Zappa schreef, Uncle Remus.
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George Duke & Het Metropole Orkest George
Duke: piano or keyboards (*) All
pieces by George Duke except where mentioned otherwise Setlist:
For
Full Band:
Intermission
Encore:
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concerts, radio- & tv-specials
billy cobham - george duke band
1976/10/10 concert 'paladium', nyc, ny, usa
billy
cobham: drums * george duke: keyboards * john scofield: guitar *
alphonso johnson: bass
... hip pockets * ivory tattoo * east bay * band introductions * balls to the wall * tryin' and cryin' for your love * giant child within us - ego * blues never hurtin' nobody * uncle remus (duke/zappa) * echidna's arf (zappa) * crescent sun * almustafa the beloved * juicy...
a 77-minute soundboard recording of this concert circulates
1976/12/26 concert 'ivanhoe theater', chicago, il, usa
billy cobham: drums * george duke: keyboards * john scofield: guitar * alphonso johnson: bass
broadcast on fm radio
a 55-minute
recording of this concert circulates
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The above picture shows Dianne Reeves and George Duke at the North Sea Jazz festival (performing 'Misty'), taken from the 2002/10/17 broadcast. | |
- 1. Introduction
2. Fuzzzion
3. Chillin'
4. In A Mellow Tone
5. Cravo E Canela
6. Songs Introduction
7. Sweet baby
8. No Rhyme, No Reason
9. Let Me Roll
10. Reach For It
11. Let Me Ride
12. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)- total time: 83 minutes
filmography
1971
Frank Zappa's 200 Motels- Member of Mothers of Invention
1977
Baby Snakes (on a TV screen in the background)
1982
The Dub Room Special
1985
The Heavenly Kid (songs producer)
1987
The Amazing Mr. Bickford (on a TV screen in the background)
1989
"Generations: TV Series- Johnny
1989
The True Story of 200 Motels
additional info:
- j.vankemenade