Jazz keyboardist George Duke dies
NEW YORK — George Duke, the Grammy-winning jazz keyboardist and producer whose sound infused acoustic jazz, electronic jazz, funk, R&B and soul in a 40-year-plus career, has died. He was 67.
A representative for Duke said the performer died Monday night in Los Angeles. Duke was being treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Duke’s son, Rashid, thanked his father’s fans in a statement Tuesday.
Duke was born in San Rafael, Calif. He appeared on a number of Frank Zappa albums and played in the Don Ellis Orchestra, Cannonball Adderley’s band and with jazz musician Stanley Clarke.
Duke also played keyboard on Michael Jackson’s multiplatinum 1979 album, “Off the Wall.”
His wife, Corine, died from cancer last year. He was unable to make music for months, but he overcame his grief to create the album “DreamWeaver,” released last month. It features a fusion of sounds and a touching tribute to his late wife on the romantic piano- driven ballad “Missing You.”
He began taking piano lessons when he was 4 years old, after seeing Duke Ellington perform.
Duke became a solo artist in 1976 and released more than 30 solo albums.
He also produced for Miles Davis, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Natalie Cole.