R.I.P + + George Duke, jazz musician, dies aged 67

American jazz musician George Duke, a pioneering keyboardist who collaborated with Frank Zappa during the 1970s, has died at the age of 67.

Former Supremes singer Scherrie Payne confirmed Duke died at St John's hospital in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
His latest album, DreamWeaver, was released in July as a tribute to his wife Corine, who died from cancer in 2012.
Duke is survived by his sons, Rasheed and John.
"I just received the devastating and sad news that the great musician, George Duke, passed away this evening," said Payne.
"It was just one year earlier, 18 July, that his beloved wife and my friend, Corine, went to be with the Lord."
An accomplished musician across multiple genres, including jazz, funk and R&B, Duke released more than 30 solo albums.
He also produced and composed tracks for several musicians, including Miles Davis, Gladys Knight and Anita Baker.
His debut album, George Duke Quartet, was released in 1966 while he was studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
"They approached me at the break and asked me if I'd like to record an album," he would later recall. "Needless to say, I was in a state of shock."

Duke was musical director of the Nelson Mandela concert in London in 1989

Despite calling the album "the worst record" he ever made, Duke went on to work with several talented artists in the late 1960s.
They included the contemporary jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, with whom he recorded an album in 1969.
Duke met Zappa the same year and worked with him on a series of records, including Chunga's Revenge, 200 Motels and Apostrophe.
During a career spanning five decades, Duke composed and produced music for film and was an accomplished music director.
He was involved in several prestigious events, among them the Nelson Mandela tribute concert in London in 1989 and a tribute to French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Alyn Shipton, presenter of BBC Radio 3's Jazz Record Requests, said everyone with an interest in jazz music celebrated Duke as one of "the most wide-ranging" of musicians.
"On the one hand he made invaluable contributions to records by Cannonball Adderley, Gerald Wilson and Harry 'Sweets' Edison.
"On the other, he virtually invented how to use the synthesizer in a jazz-rock context.
"But he was also a major producer, working on albums with Miles Davis and the Brecker Brothers, as well as a host of funk and soul artists.
"He'll be equally fondly remembered by a new generation of hip hop musicians, who have made him one of the most sampled of all jazz artists."
Duke's work has been sampled by such acts as Kanye West, Daft Punk and Ice Cube. He also featured on the third album from Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jill Scott.
Duke was devastated by Corine's death and released DreamWeaver less than a month ago as a tribute to her.
The musician had been due to perform with his band in Los Angeles in early September.

Le claviériste américain et producteur de jazz George Duke est mort d'une leucémie lundi soir à Los Angeles à l'âge de 67 ans, a annoncé son agent. Le musicien avait notamment collaboré avec Frank Zappa et Jean-Luc Ponty.

George Duke, né à San Rafael, en Californie, avait entamé sa carrière au milieu des années 1960 en intégrant le groupe du Half Note de San Francisco, un club de jazz où il côtoyait le chanteur Al Jarreau.
Pionnier du jazz fusion, spécialiste des synthétiseurs, il avait accédé à la notoriété en 1969 avec le disque 'The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with The George Duke Trio', un des premiers enregistrements de "fusion" où les thèmes jazzy se mêlaient au violon électrique du musicien français. Ses albums suivants, 'Faces in Reflection', 'The Aura Will Prevail' et 'Liberated Fantasies' produits dans les années 1970, sont considérés comme des classiques du jazz-funk.
A la même époque, George Duke s'est produit sur plusieurs albums de Frank Zappa. Il a également joué avec Miles Davis. Il laisse 40 albums derrière lui, dont le dernier, 'DreamWeaver', est sorti le mois dernier. Le musicien a abordé aussi bien le jazz que la R&B, la musique pop et la musique country.
En 2000 et 2001, il avait remporté des Grammy Awards récompensant son travail de producteur sur des enregistrements de la chanteuse Dianne Reeves.