Search - George Duke :: My Soul

A Feast For My Soul

Star Thrower | 05/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I purchased this great set recently and for me it's worth every penny! I was familiar with the latter half of this collection as represented in the previously re-issued Three Originals 2-CD set. I had since parted with that set to earn a few bucks, so I was delighted to find this new MPS edition featuring six great Duke albums in one 4-CD package.

My Soul contains Duke's highly sought after Solus/Inner Source albums that were originally available on a two vinyl album set. The inclusion of these two albums alone make this edition worth the price. These records are all instrumental modern jazz recordings featuring Duke's straight ahead and more exploratory compositions. Solus, a trio session finds George playing both acoustic and electric piano backed by the rhythm section of John Heard and Dick Berk. Both join Duke for the follow up, The Inner Source which is augmented by trombone, trumpet and sax courtesy of Duke, Luis Grasca, and Jerome Richardson respectively. That's right, George played a little trombone back in the day.

Up next is an album recently re-issued separately. Faces In Reflection is Duke's first foray into synthesizers and a keyboard tour de force! For more on the music, check the reviews for this title.

The next album represented here is 1974's Feel. This is Duke's first fully realized conglomeration of funk/soul/pop/jazz. A trademark sound emerges here that would give George Duke the musical identity and accompanying audience he was searching for. The man had arrived. The Mother superior Frank Zappa performs a couple of heated guitar solos under an assumed name on two tracks.

This winning formula continues on the superb follow up, I Love The Blues, She Heard My Cry. A stronger effort all around chock full of virtuoso musicianship and memorable tunes. Duke employs the services of many great musicians including Emil Richards, Ruth Underwood, Lee Ritenour, Daryl Stuermer, and blues great Johnny Guitar Watson sitting in for the title track.

The set closes with the mid 70s releases The Aura Will Prevail, and Liberated Fantasies featuring more upbeat pop/funk/fusion nuggets. In addition to all of the great music, this collection comes complete with a booklet of photos and extensive liner notes. George Duke's personal reflections on all six albums included. All in all a superb re-issue package for the serious George Duke fan."

THANK YOU MPS!!!!

Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 06/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For quite a long time now 'Faces In Reflection','Feel','The Aura Will Prevail','I Love The Blues,She Heard My Cry','Liberated Fantasies' and the once impossible to find 'Inner Source' have gone down in legend not only among George Duke fans but lovers of 70's jazz-funk in general!Along with Herbie Hancock albums such as 'Feel' featured a then pioneering use of synthesizer in the genre. These were albums I had to hunt down (and pay handsomely on vinyl for) only a few years ago but hearing them in this digitally remastered form only adds to the excitment of the music featured here. As you listen you see George Duke progress from a electric piano based early 70's jazz with an R&B twist of the kind Cannonball Adderly was famous for to electronic jazz-funk extravaganza's such as "Back To Where We Never Left" from 1976's 'Liberated Fantasies' album. These albums being presented in chronological order really gives George Duke the kind of presentation he always deserved but never got. This is presented in a manner not disimilar to Columbia's Miles Davis "complete session" boxed sets-of which Miles' The Complete On the Corner Sessions is probably the next thing you'll want to purchase after this one. This also includes some very insightful liner notes,much written by George Duke himself alive with his great personality and make great reading while grooving out to this great music!Frankly I could go on and on FOREVER in this review describing IN DETAIL each and every song from albums like 'Feel' and Inner Source' but I can only give a general description of the music here;the overall impression is that of the most imaginative,progressive yet melodic and accessible jazz-funk music of it's era;full of tasty electronics (between George's ARP Odyssey Synthesizer and Fender Rhodes Piano),lots of echoey psychedelic production effects and some songs that almost defy description such as "Nigerian Numberuma","North Beach" and "Tryin' N Cryin".Other songs,many featuring the almost Philip Bailey-like falsetto vocals of Duke himself are in fact almost radio worthy such as the instrumental "Feels So Good" along with "Capricorn","Someday" (which actually did receive some airplay and was re-recorded by Duke on his wonderful but now OOP 1982 album Dream On,"Seeing You" and "Yana Aminah",a bouncy latin melody featuring the incomparable Flora Purim on vocals. So between the 6 whole albums/64 songs presented here every single piece of music here is like it's own private treasure chest waiting to be uncovered.And it's truly a testament to George Duke that this music has that effect even more so today then when it was first recorded.Not to even mention that it's a quality that seldom happens twice in ones music career. So this is a set I very highly recommend-hands down."