5CD - George Duke -

5CD - Import

• Definitive George Duke Collection that covers the period of 1977 through to 2000 that features his Epic Records and Warner Brothers period.

• This unique five CD Set containing 87 fantastic tracks, celebrates the storied solo career of a veritable colossus whose multi-faceted music straddled different genres.

• Contains all of George Duke’s biggest Epic hits including ‘Dukey Stick’, ‘Say That You Will’, ‘Shine On’ and the fabulous extended Mike Maurro’s 12” mix of the track ‘I Want You For Myself’.

• Also featured are tracks from the Clarke / Duke Project releases including the Smash Hit ‘Sweet Baby’.

• With fantastic sleeve notes by journalist Charles Waring contributor to MOJO, Record Collector and uDiscover Music.

After leaving Epic in 1985 George began a new chapter in his career by joining Elektra Records where he recorded nine albums Including ‘Thief In The Night’ and his 1986 self-titled Album, the best tracks of these albums are featured on this release. George Duke continued making records until he died in 2013 aged 67. His passing made the music world a poorer place, but his legacy of 32 solo albums - and contributions as a keyboardist and producer for myriad other artists - ensures that he won’t easily be forgotten.

Duke was not a mere dabbler in different styles or a shallow dilettante hopping from trend to trend in an aim to stay fashionable or relevant. Rather, he was a true virtuoso of many genres who could play all kinds of music styles with distinction, flair, and authority. Perhaps his eclecticism came in part from the fact that he was apprenticed to two master musicians who were poles apart stylistically: the prog-rock guitarist/composer Frank Zappa and the bebop jazz legend, saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley. Both were highly intelligent, polymathic musicians who were similar by ignoring conventional demarcation lines in music, unafraid of mixing genres and flouting the rules. They instilled in Duke an adventurous, explorative streak; Zappa, in particular, liberated the pianist from his early preconceptions and snobbishness about the worth of diverse kinds of music.