How does a man who has worked with Jean-Luc Ponty, Frank Zappa, Cannonball Adderly, Stanley Clarke, and Billy Cobham keep his career’s momentum going? By creating a Dukey Stick, of course!
As a virtuosic keyboard player, George Duke had recorded and toured with all of the above names by the time this interview was recorded in 1978. Covering jazz, rock, and everything on the spectrum in between, Duke then headed in a more straightforward funk direction with 1977’s Reach For It and its 1978 follow-up Don’t Let Go. Complete with a plexi-glass, fire-shooting, electric-rainbow-light magic wand, he was seemingly fully immersed in the funk. However, he was already working on more diverse projects and openly admits in this interview o trying to avoid being pigeonholed in any specific genre.
With such rich and varied experiences, Duke has a lot to say about music, which, along with the laid-back nature of this chat, makes for a great interview. An additional highlight is his description of a young new singer in his band, Sheila E.
00:00 – A strange, evolved, mixed audience 01:33 – 70 albums / fear of overexposure 02:56 – Reach For It / something more important than album sales 03:53 – Time: the only way to put on a good show 04:55 – Starting over as an opening act 06:07 – Getting one’s style cramped; just part of the business 07:59 – Becoming more of a visual act / the Dukey Stick 09:52 – Laser music / enhancing the music 11:52 – Letting go, going with the flow (music, love, life) 13:47 – The mistakes of critics 15:00 – The fusion argument / multi-stylistic 17:02 – Transcending the fusion argument 17:36 – The funk argument / touching someone instead of impressing musicians 19:20 – Adding simplicity to the music 20:13 – Connections to punk and politics 22:14 – “Music is a found treasure” 22:47 – 1978: a good year for music / the economy’s effect on live shows 24:19 – Don’t Let Go 25:38 – Feeling better about his singing 26:26 – New challenges 27:32 – Being oneself while wearing different hats 28:53 – Increased sophistication in Brazilian music 30:24 – The integration of music into American society 31:13 – Current tours 31:39 – Where is Shuggie Otis? 32:18 – Producing, working with Raul de Souza 33:12 – Sheila E. / youth in the group 34:39 – The next direction, with timeline 35:44 – The George Duke image / fighting the pigeonholing 37:11 – Last words / touring