DreamWeaver (Heads Up International, 2013)
DreamWeaver is the last album recorded by keyboard maestro George Duke. Just a few weeks after its release, George Duke died, on August 5, 2013.
George Duke worked on DreamWeaver after his wife, Corine, passed away. “I didn’t feel like creating any music, which was odd, because normally that’s the easiest thing for me to do,” he said, “Sometimes, I would walk into the studio and say, ‘Nah. It’s not going to happen.’”
George Duke’s inspiration returned while on a Capital Cruise. During the first two days, he didn’t play any music, but did check out some of the other bands. “By the third day, something happened,” he recalled. After returning to his cabin around 4 a.m. from listening to music, inspiration awakened. “I went back on the deck and watched the sun come up. A couple of songs started coming to me; I got out my pen and paper, and started writing.”
DreamWeaver brought George Duke back to the areas of funk jazz, fusion and even Latin jazz. There is still smooth jazz and R&B, but on DreamWeaver we find some gems like ‘’Stones of Orion’ where the Frank Zappa influence sneaks in at moments. On this track George Duke is joined by the great bass player Stanley Clarke.
On the funk jazz side, DreamWeaver features three outstanding tracks loaded with George Duke’s signature synthesizer solos and the coolest grooves: the autobiographical ‘Trippin’, ‘Ashtray’, ‘Round the Way girl’ . George Duke was the master of funk jazz synthesizers.
George Duke showcased his fusion side on ‘Brown Sneakers’ and ‘Burnt Sausage Jam’ featuring bassist Christian McBride’s. And he brought out the Latin jazz beats on ‘You Never know.’
“For me, I need the blues in there; that Ancient Source that really emanated from Africa,” he said when asked about his approach to jazz, “Jazz formed from the merging of European and African elements in a spontaneous context, so if you take away either element from the music, it ceases to be living, growing and ever changing real jazz, for me.”
DreamWeaver is one the finest albums George Duke made in a long time. He said it was his “most honest album in several years.”
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