George Duke is known primarily as a keyboardist and musical innovator as well as a composer, producer and singer in jazz and mainstream musical genres. He made a name for himself the release of the album “The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience With The George Duke Trio”. He was also known for thirty albums to his credit and his collaborations with other musicians, Frank Zappa, among others. Duke attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley before earning a bachelor’s degree in trombone and composition with a minor in contrabass. In 1967, he experimented with jazz fusion by playing and recording with Jean-Luc Ponty, as well as performing with the Don Ellis Orchestra and Cannonball Adderley’s band, while getting acquainted with Frank Zappa. Duke appeared on several Frank Zappa albums during the 1970s. He was also prominent in the R&B genre, releasing the singles  “Dukey Stick’ and “Reach For It”. Duke died on August 5, 2013 in Los Angeles of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was 67.