Wednesday, August 7, 2013

George Duke- January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013



One of the world greatest Jazz fusion, R&B, funk, alternative rock, rock and roll, jazz pop, post-disco, crossover jazz visionaries has passed. George Duke was battling chronic lymphocytic leukemia. George Duke was an amazing musician he played the piano, synthesizer, Keytar, keyboards, contrabass, trombone and he was also a vocalist. George Duke was born in San Rafael California and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He went to Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley California. He earned bachelor's degree in trombone and composition with a minor in contrabass, from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1967. I grew up on George Duke’s music. I remember seeing George Duke at many venues in the San Francisco Bay Area throughout the years. Every time I saw him, he amazed me. He was the jazziest funkiest musician of our time. Here are some of my favorite songs of George Duke’s, “No Rhyme No Reason”, “Dukey Stick”, “The Way I Feel”, “Old Slippers”, "6 O'Clock", “Morning Sun”, “Feel”, “Sweet Baby” and “Reach For It” to name a few. R.I.P. Mr. Duke you will be missed but your gift lives on through your music forever! Tune into Streetwise Radio and listen to songs from George Duke. You can also listen to Streetwise Radio on Athena365, MyGen365, iTunes, Live365 and Pandora.
LM