Tuesday 3 January 2017

George Duke - Secret Rendezvous (1984)



George Duke has an absolutely massive library of music, and guested on so many albums in so many genres. It's kind of weird that I had to stumble on to his stuff by accident, rather than just knowing who he was already like I would someone like Stevie Wonder. He was another guy that was all about the keys and vocals, and the two were very much in the same circles. And both of them were readily willing to adopt synthesizers in to their arsenal.

For whatever reason, George Duke just didn't have the mainstream appeal. But do you know what he did have? A damn fresh talent for synth bass. This is the kind of synth bass that is played live, without midi, and it oozes with flavour. Listen to him play this synth bass in the pocket. That's the kind of thing that would only naturally occur in the transition from the 70s to the 80s and just before the dawn of digital synths. I've said it before, but I will say it again. The year 1984 yields so much interesting character listening to it again now. I'll have much more to say on that soon though.

For now, enjoy!

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