Name: The Inner Source
Brand: George Duke

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

0214948MSW

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-02-25

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Proper

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

4029759149484

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Total Cap

2 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

0212854MSW

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Black

4029759128540

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2 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

George Duke

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

George Duke was an American R&B, soul, jazz and disco producer, keyboards player and composer. Born on 12.01.1946 in San Rafael, CA, U.S.A., he had a long and extensive solo discography as well as collaborations with Jean-Luc Ponty, Frank Zappa, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Cannonball Adderley and many others.
Duke's musical career spanned several genres and he made significant contributions to the music industry. He worked with notable artists such as Dianne Reeves, George Clinton, Anita Baker and Rachelle Ferrell. His talent on the keyboard was widely recognized and his compositions showcased his versatility.
With influences from R&B to jazz fusion, Duke's unique sound resonated with audiences worldwide. His collaborations with renowned performers like The Crusaders, Joe Sample and Ronnie Laws further solidified his place in the music scene. Although he passed away on August 5th of 2013, George Duke's legacy continues to inspire musicians across generations.

MPS is a German jazz label that was founded in 1968 by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. It started as a successor to SABA and quickly gained recognition for its exceptional sound quality. Often compared to the renowned Blue Note label, MPS became known as Most Perfect Sound.

From 1971 onwards, MPS releases were distributed by BASF and later by Metronome Records GmbH (renamed Metronome Musik GmbH in 1977). However, in 1983, due to declining budgets for recording jazz music, Brunner-Schwer shifted his focus to classical music and sold the rights of MPS to Philips. Eventually, the label found its way under Polydor's ownership and its recordings were re-released by Motor Music starting from 1993.

In Hamburg, Universal Jazz Germany took over the MPS archives in 1999 while Speakers Corner Records released various vinyl reissues. After ten years since Brunner-Schwer's passing, Edel acquired MPS's back catalogue from Universal on January 7th, 2014. Now led by Andreas Brunner-Schwer and Friedhelm Schulz, the team has returned to Villingen where they continue recording new material.

In 1971 George Duke, having just recently done his time with the Mothers of Invention, was engaged by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. Beginning in April of that year, Duke made two recordings over a short timespan that on their release in 1973 as a double LP (against the desire of the artists, by the way), would be a major statement. On Chapter One of his fusion autobiography, Solus, Duke, along with the skeleton crew of bassist John Heard and drummer Dick Berk, tries out the new compositional philosophy he had absorbed from his work with Adderley. The album was obliged to maintain a jazzy environment, illustrated by the harmonically flowing piano improvisation on Love Reborn and the bop-influenced busyness of The Followers. But the record also signifies the importance of the keyboards in all their diverse contexts – the funky rock of Au-right, and the smouldering, dreamy feel of Peace, for instance. And on Manya Duke lives it up as he shows off his exuberant experimental synth side.

The Inner Source continues in the same vein. So There You Go is a downright delightful waltz featuring e-piano, whereas Some Time Ago is pure tonal colour and atmosphere. We find an exotic gem in Nigerian Numberumba in which an African Lamellophone is craftily simulated with an echoplex and ring modulator. Duke also begins to vary the lineup here. Feels So Good und My Soul are reinforced with Latin percussion, and incisive horn and reed instruments (luminaries from the Thad Jones and Santana entourages). The same with the title track, a masterstroke of quintet dramaturgy, with Duke on his first instrument, the trombone. As a curiosity, two basses compete with each other on Twenty Five. The last piece, Always Constant, is a more open piece that spontaneously unfolded in the studio.

The Inner Source

Music GB