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George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a professor of music. He first made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio. He was known primarily for 32 solo albums, as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa.
He 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. 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, they 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 played guitar solos on his album Feel (1974). In 1975 he recorded with Pete Magadini (his Original drummer) 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 FowlerWatson, Ben, Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play, St Martin's Press, New York, 1993, p. 294. and jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. I Love the Blues She Heard My Cry, MPS Records-BAP 5071/BASF 5071/MPS Records MC 25671, 1975, sleeve notes
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."Sunday Night" episodes No.104 (1988), No.113 (1989), No.114 (1989), No.121 (1989) He was a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards.
He died on August 5, 2013 in Los Angeles, at the age of 67 from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
| 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 | "" | |
| 2005 | Best Pop Instrumental Performance | "T-Jam" |
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| 1993 | Contemporary Black Gospel Album | Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration |
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| 2013 | Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/Group |
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 (Duke's cousin), and Patrice Rushen. The album received the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.
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