{"id":9638,"date":"2015-12-09T05:30:18","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T05:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=9638"},"modified":"2024-12-30T11:44:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T16:44:40","slug":"box-set-review-george-duke-the-era-will-prevail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/09\/box-set-review-george-duke-the-era-will-prevail\/","title":{"rendered":"Box Set Review: George Duke — The Era Will Prevail (Part One)"},"content":{"rendered":"

George Duke<\/b> (1946-2013) was one of the most fascinating figures in music during the second half of the 20th<\/sup> century. Duke was a jazz-and-classically trained musician proficient on any number of instruments, though he is best known as a keyboard player. He got his start collaborating with French virtuoso violinist Jean-Luc Ponty<\/a><\/b>, and his early musical associations included Julian \u201cCannonball\u201d Adderley<\/a><\/b> and Frank Zappa<\/a><\/b>, two musical giants quick to realize Duke’s immense talents. (At the time of this writing, Wikipedia’s entry on Duke fails to cite his credits on several Cannonball Adderley albums including The Black Messiah<\/a><\/i> and Big Man<\/a><\/i>, not to mention Nat Adderley<\/b>‘s admittedly weird Soul Zodiac<\/a><\/i>.)<\/p>\n

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In addition to his fine and groundbreaking work as sideman on those and other albums (somewhat unique in the jazz idiom, he was astoundingly quick to realize and exploit the potential of analog synthesizers), George Duke initiated a solo recording career in 1970. From the very beginning, his musical vision expanded beyond jazz into fusion, experimental, and pop-leaning rhythm and blues\/soul. The series of albums he recorded for German label MPS are far less well-known than his later material (the r&b groove of the Clarke\/Duke Project<\/b>, and his production\/sideman duties for Miles Davis<\/a><\/b>, Michael Jackson<\/b> and many others), but not only do they \u2013 in retrospect \u2013 provide early clues to some of the musical directions he’d take, they’re also exceptionally fine examples of his deft synthesis of styles and genres.<\/p>\n

In 2015, MPS has reissued six (or seven, depending on how you count) of Duke’s MPS-era albums as a box set of 180-gram vinyl records. The Era Will Prevail: The MPS Studio Years 1973-1976<\/i> contains a myriads of musical gems, and is worth deep exploration for those inclined toward Duke’s combination of expansive adventurism and pop sensibility.<\/p>\n

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Vol. 1: The Inner Source<\/b><\/i>
\nThis 1973 double LP was originally planned as two separate albums, and it clearly sounds like it. Packaged in a gatefold sleeve, it contained material originally slated as Solus<\/i> along with a second record that gave the eventual release its title. Recorded in 1971, Solus<\/i> was actually Duke’s second solo album; the little-heard Save the Country<\/i> had been released on Pickwick a year before. Tracks from the two sessions are shuffled throughout the 2LP set.<\/p>\n

The tracks originally intended for Solus<\/i> feature Duke primarily on acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric piano, with (on most tracks) his bandmates John Heard<\/b> on bass, and drummer Dick Berk<\/b>. \u201cAu-Right\u201d is funky electric where \u201cLove Reborn\u201d is classy, sophisticated acoustic. The longest piece on the first record, \u201cPeace\u201d is an impressionistic piece on Rhodes; it’s almost proto-New Age; Heard saws subtly at his amplified bass violin. Wah-wah pedals and other rock-leaning devices inform the funky jazz of \u201cThe Followers,\u201d but as the track unfolds, it moves more into abstract and ambitious bop territory. \u201cSo There You Go\u201d is bright and uptempo acoustic trio jazz, with Duke expressively bringing melody forth from a grand piano. The longest piece on the entire set, \u201cSolus\u201d is also one of the set’s most ambitious. But for all that, it’s still very much in a classic structure, with each man taking his solo turn. \u201cNigerina Numberuma\u201d finds Duke on his own, bending the synthesizer to his will; the result is an intriguing melange of tribal-sounding melody and futuristic electronic textures.<\/p>\n

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The works recorded for the more ambitious The Inner Source<\/i> LP vary between Duke solo pieces (the early and freaky synthesizer\/ring modulator experiment \u201cManya\u201d) and a lineup that includes Latin percussion and brass. To wit, and despite its title, \u201cMy Soul\u201d isn’t soul jazz nearly as much as a Cuban or Brazilian-flavored dance number. \u201cFeels So Good\u201d is warm, midtempo soul jazz; it’s Duke at his best, combining fluid arrangement, melodic accessibility, and stellar chops. Jerome Richardson<\/b>‘s flute and Luis Gasca<\/b>‘s trumpet are especially tasty. \u201cSweet Bite\u201d features understated accompaniment from Heard and Berk, leaving space for Duke to play warm and mellow left-hand chords while trilling away adventurously with his right hand. \u201cThe Inner Source\u201d is Duke and brass man Richardson; overdubbing lets them sound like a much bigger outfit; the dramatic and varied tune has the feel of (very good) TV incidental music of the era. \u201cLife\u201d finds Duke and Heard alternately playing in octave-spaced unison and engaging in a musical dialogue. Starting slowly, by midway the track is racing along at a dizzying speed. Sergio Michanovich<\/strong>‘s \u201cSome Time Ago\u201d is the sole outside composition on this set; subtle bits of synthesizer are slipped in among the trio arrangement. The atmospheric \u201cTwenty-five\u201d features James Leary<\/strong>‘s yawning and expressive bass violin as its primary focus (Leary composed the number). \u201cAlways Constant\u201d closes the two-disc set in style, again featuring the Duke\/Richardson duo and extensive overdubbing. Still, the track’s feel is so organic that it feels like an all-in live-in-the-studio piece.<\/p>\n

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Vol. 2: Faces in Reflection<\/b><\/i>
\nFor this 1974 album \u2013 one of three<\/i> Duke would release that year \u2013 the keyboardist brought back bassist John Heard, and started using drummer Ndugu<\/b> (born Leon Chancler). There’s a closer, more intimate ambience to this album’s production, and the tunes are harder-hitting overall. \u201cThe Opening\u201d kicks off the record in thrilling fashion; Ndugu’s propulsive percussion is rooted more in funk and rock than in old school jazz, and Duke’s fiery synthesizer runs are a treat. \u201cCapricorn,\u201d then, comes as quite a surprise. Duke’s wordless vocals and the smooth arrangement call to mind a jazzier Isaac Hayes<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cPiano Solo No. 1 + 2\u201d is as advertised: Duke setting aside (for the moment) all electronics, turning in a pair of expressive (and brief) pieces (the latter has some lovely synthesizer work accompanying the piano).<\/p>\n

The title of \u201cPsychocomatic Dung\u201d suggests a Zappa influence \u2013 Duke was quite busy playing with Frank in this period \u2013 and the number is a tour-de-force of a tight funk-jazz trio playing; the juxtaposition of Heard’s acoustic bass and Duke’s electric piano and analog synth is breathtaking. The clavinet break mid-tune is dizzying. The trio leans back for the soulful and otherworldly \u201cFaces in Reflection No. 1,\u201d featuring some delightful synth textures. Brazilian flavor returns for a reading of Milton Nascimento<\/b>‘s mostly-acoustic \u201cMaria Tres Filhos.\u201d Duke rides the wah-wah pedal on \u201cNorth Beach,\u201d a solo Rhodes and spacey synth excursion that recalls Sun Ra<\/b>. \u201cDa Somba\u201d is the most Zappa-like piece on Faces in Reflection<\/i>, with a stomping intro and speedy flights of keyboard fancy; Ndugu and Heard ably race alongside Duke. The brief \u201cFaces in Reflection No. 2\u201d features a smooth George Duke vocal that displays his vocal prowess taking on a tricky melody, and remaining cool as ice while doing so. The off-kilter vocal line presages Zappa’s own \u201cOutside Now\u201d (with an Ike Willis<\/a><\/b> vocal) from 1979’s Joe’s Garage Act III<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Click here to continue<\/a>…<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Duke (1946-2013) was one of the most fascinating figures in music during the second half of the 20th century. Duke was a jazz-and-classically trained musician proficient on any number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,19,31,32,42,51,56,60,64,65,69,73],"tags":[861,2561,1535],"class_list":["post-9638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-compilation","category-funk","category-fusion","category-jazz","category-pop","category-prog","category-rb","category-reissue","category-review","category-soul","category-vinyl","tag-frank-zappa","tag-george-duke","tag-mps","cat-9-id","cat-19-id","cat-31-id","cat-32-id","cat-42-id","cat-51-id","cat-56-id","cat-60-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9638"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28918,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9638\/revisions\/28918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}