Affiliates Work - Dukey Treats

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Manufacturer: Heads Up

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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0053361314323
Label: Heads Up
Manufacturer: Heads Up
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Heads Up
Release Date: 2008-08-26
Studio: Heads Up

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Editorial Reviews:

Veteran keyboardist and producer George Duke remembers a time when funk was a powerful force not just in popular music but in social discourse. Frequently with a measure of wit and irony, and often with a strong dose of positivity at the core, titans like James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and other funk icons of the `60s and `70s boldly addressed societal concerns ranging from poverty to racial disharmony to the battle of the sexes. Among the numerous treats on this album are not just the songs themselves but the roster of high-profile personnel helping to bring them to life many of them alumni of Duke's earlier bands and projects. Included on the guest list are bassist Christian McBride, percussionist Sheila E and trumpeter Michael Patches Stuart, to name a few. Along with Duke himself, the vocal crew includes Jonathan Butler, Howard Hewett, Teena Marie, Rachelle Ferrell and more.

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Much of the same from Dukey
Comment: I have followed Dukeys music for over 20 years and own many of his CDs but with this disc and others it seems that his sound never changes they basically all sound the same. Just because a song is funky doesn't mean thats it's good, smooth jazz is a becoming a repeated art form.

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Duke is back
Comment: .. with a solid album packed with jazzy funk in the style of the great master's of the 70s.

Customer Rating:

Summary: up to date yet retro
Comment: This is one of his finest. It's up to date yet you get those retro vibes from the 70's. Great music.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Great
Comment: George seems to keep up with previous release by himself. Just what I expected, great. if you like George, you can always buy his new releases, unheard and be satisfied.

Customer Rating:

Summary: What could have been...
Comment: This record is a great example of an artist who can still do what they did back in the day but doesn't doesn't want to be known for only that (no matter how good it was) and is straddling the fence now to please any number of audiences.

All the way through this record it sounded like Duke, but not really, pulling his punches, going into the too-smooth bag of tricks. That Duke piled together members of his old 70s collective into the studio to get down does give the record some nostalgic edge, but it ends up being like funky icing on a plain cake. The songs don't really groove, the band does, and that's unfortunate. Everyone's still got the chops, but they're working with material that is either too straight or so self-referential that it sounds like Duke b-sides. Duke has always played with a mutlitude of genres but his best records have always come from a focus on one at a time, maybe inserting apopular single in the mix for kicks (see "Master of the Game", "Muir Woods Suite" or "Reach For It").

And then the last track comes on, "Images of Us", and it's wonderful. A whole record of THAT and I'd have been running in the streets, talking about how Duke has returned from the mountaintop. Unfortunately, you have to go through a record made up of all of the directions that Duke has ever taken us to get to that one, honest track. This isn't a return to form so much as it is an homage to form, and jazz is sick with that mindset these days. I almost wish he hadn't put that last great track on; now I'll just wonder what could have been.

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