My Take
George Duke is one of those musicians who was genuinely too versatile for his own fame — he could sit in with Frank Zappa one night, trade licks with Stanley Clarke on a Grammy-winning jazz-funk record the next, and then turn around and produce a smooth R&B smash for someone else entirely. Growing up in San Rafael and training at San Francisco State, he absorbed everything from classical to soul, and it showed: his keyboard work has this effortless warmth that makes even the most technically dazzling runs feel completely natural. The Clarke/Duke Project stuff from the early '80s still sounds fresh, and his solo records like "Dream On" remind you that he could write a pop melody when he wanted to. Losing him in 2013 at 67 was genuinely painful — the jazz world got quieter that day.
Overview
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.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- George Duke
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョージ・デューク
- Reading
- じょーじ・でゅーく
- Born
- January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Dog
- Origin
- San Rafael, California, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- pianist / composer / jazz musician / film score composer / singer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Tamalpais High School
- University
- San Francisco State University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.