1. George M Duke was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer.
19 Facts About George Duke
1. 2.
George Duke worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a professor of music.
3.
George Duke first made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio.
4.
George Duke was known primarily for 32 solo albums, of which A Brazilian Love Affair from 1979 was his most popular, as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa.
5.
George M Duke was born in San Rafael, California, United States, to Thadd Duke and Beatrice Burrell, and was raised in Marin City.
6.
George Duke's mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert and told him about this experience.
7.
George Duke attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley before earning a bachelor's degree in trombone and composition, with a minor in contrabass, from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1967.
8.
George Duke earned a master's degree in composition from San Francisco State University in 1975.
9.
George Duke taught a course on jazz and American culture at Merritt College in Oakland.
10.
George Duke's second was with French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, with whom he performed in San Francisco.
11.
George Duke spent two years with Zappa as a member of The Mothers of Invention, two years with Adderley, then returned to Zappa.
12.
George Duke 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.
13.
George Duke occasionally recorded under the name Dawilli Gonga, possibly for contractual reasons, when appearing on other artists' albums.
14.
In 1977, George Duke fused jazz with pop, funk, and soul music on his album From Me to You.
15.
George Duke's clients included Anita Baker, Rachelle Ferrell, Everette Harp, Gladys Knight, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, The Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, Seawind, and Take 6.
16.
George Duke worked as musical director at the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in London.
17.
George Duke was a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards.
18.
George Duke died on August 5,2013, in Los Angeles, at the age of 67 from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
19.
George Duke was inducted into The SoulMusic Hall of Fame at SoulMusic.