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George Duke learned piano at school and he was deeply influenced by Miles Davis and the soul-jazz sound of Les McCann and Cal Tjader. He came out from the San Francisco Conservatory as a Bachelor of Music in 1967. From 1965-67 he played as a resident pianist at the Half Note, and accompanied musicians such as Gillespie, Dizzy and Dorham, Kenny. This foundation served as a musical education for his further life. He arranged for a vocal group, the Third Wave, and toured Mexico in 1968.
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About George Duke
George Duke was born in San Rafael, California on 12 January 1946. George achieved fame as a pianist after the release of his album Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio. He inmost is well known as an independent artist. He also has some notable works with his collaborations with composers such as Frank Zappa and Stanley Clarke. He has also accompanied several of prestigious Brazilian musicians, including singer Milton Nascimento, percussionist Airto Moreira and singer Flora Purim. He started his piano studies at the tender age of seven. He learnt a lot about music from the church. And that is the place where he experienced, how music could activate feelings in a cause-and-effect relationship. By the age of sixteen, George had played with a number of high school jazz groups.
In 1969 he started performing with French violinist Ponty, Jean-Luc, using the electric piano along with Ponty's plugged-in violin. He played on King Kong, an album of music Zappa, Frank wrote for Ponty. In 1970 he collaborated with Zappa's group, which proved to be an experience that transformed his music. Before playing with Zappa's group he had been an expert in playing rock 'n' roll piano triplets. Zappa was the man who inspired him to sing and joke and experiment with electronics. Putting a joint effort they wrote 'Uncle Remus' for Apostrophe in 1972, this song was based on issues about black attitudes to subjugation. He also contributed to a popular edition of the Mothers Of Invention, released on the spectacular Roxy & Elsewhere in1975. This album was a combination of fluid jazz played with rock and avant garde vibrancies. In 1972 he was seen traveling with Adderley, Cannonball where he substituted Zawinul.
Duke always had an inclination towards soul jazz and after he imparted with Zappa, he opted for full-frontal funk. His hits, I Love The Blues, She Heard My Cry released in 1975, displayed retrospective influences of the black musical forms. This song was a duet with Johnny Guitar Watson which came to be a big success. Duke also performed duos with fusion power-drummer Cobham, Billy, and virtuoso bassist Clarke, Stanley, playing quintessential 70s jazz rock with much influences of 'chops', being in demand those days. In 1990, George Duke was named "R&B Keyboardist Of The Year" by Keyboard Magazine for the second consecutive year.
