{"id":5021,"date":"2013-08-06T15:03:04","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T22:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.louielouie.net\/blog\/?p=5021"},"modified":"2013-08-06T15:03:04","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T22:03:04","slug":"rip-george-duke-jazz-pianist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.louielouie.net\/blog\/?p=5021","title":{"rendered":"RIP: George Duke, jazz pianist"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I’m saddened to report that George Duke<\/strong> has passed away. He just released his album- “DreamWeaver,” which debuted at #1 on the Contemporary Jazz Chart. It was a tribute to his wife, Corine, who passed away last year.<\/p>\n

George passed away at Monday at St John\u2019s Hospital in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was 67 years old.<\/p>\n

New York Daily News<\/a> provided a summary of his career:<\/p>\n

In a career that spanned more than 40 years, Duke worked with stars including Michael Jackson<\/strong>, on 1979\u2019s \u201cOff The Wall,\u201d Miles Davis<\/strong>, producing and composing tracks on several key albums of the \u201880s, and Frank Zappa<\/strong>, with whom he appeared on \u201cMothers of Invention\u201d albums from 1970 through the early \u201890s.<\/p>\n

Duke, who was born in San Rafael, Calif., began taking piano lessons at age 4, after seeing Duke Ellington<\/strong> perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember it too well … but my mother told me I went crazy,\u201d Duke said on his website. \u201cI ran around saying, \u2018Get me a piano, get me a piano!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

George did perform LOUIE LOUIE at various times throughout this career, more than likely during his run with Frank Zappa, but his collaboration with Stanley Clarke<\/strong> provided what many people consider the definitive soul-funk version of the song, which was released in 1981.<\/p>\n

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Here’s a little music video created for that recording by the Clarke-Duke Project<\/strong> …<\/p>\n