George Duke Album Reviews

[Review] Jean-Luc Ponty: Electric Connection (1969)

Ponty was flown into the US to record this album with George Duke and Gerald Wilson, but the performances feel dialed in.

Jean-Luc and Duke play an electrified set at the psychedelicized Sunset Strip spot, Thee Experience.

The low-budget seduction of a classical/jazz violinist and an ad hoc orchestra.

The beginning of the Flo & Eddie experiment, in which the pair become the witting mouthpiece for Frank.

This probably should have come with a free bar of soap and shampoo, since you’ll need a shower after listening to it.

Frank gets pushed from a stage and spends months at home pushing the envelope of musical smallmindedness.

Don’t like classical jazz/rock music? Blow it out your Wazoo.

Two albums in one (Solus, The Inner Source) that showcase Duke’s colossal Rhodes skills and artistic range, backed by the George Duke Trio.

The album that kicked off (kind of) a commercial renaissance for Frank Zappa.

Duke adds Headhunter Ndugu to the trio and releases a spacey album of jazz fusion that invites comparison to Zappa and RTF.

A sensational selection of new songs recorded live on double elpee and featuring the funny and furiously fast Zappa we all love.

A crossover of space fusion and synth funk, featuring Frank Zappa as the mysterious Obdewl’l X.

The last album from the last and best lineup of The Mothers, featuring two sofas and a modified dog.

Okay, so it’s not a replica of Trout Mask Replica, but the pair still create sparks on this suitably demented outing.

This is a lesson in how musicians should approach making a solo album: mix it up and give 110% on every track.