George Duke – HuffPost 6.21.13

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists?

George Duke: Stay true to yourself, because there are too many artists who, if they’ve done their homework, and they’ve found out who they are as an artist sometimes back off of that and do what other people tell them to do or the way they see them as opposed to the way the artist sees him or herself. In other words, for me, as a creative artist, I look at it like this: The whole business is a wheel, and there are a lot of spokes on that wheel. Stravinsky has a spoke on that wheel, Miles Davis has a spoke on that wheel, Sly & The Family Stone…all the great artists that are innovators have spokes that are holding up this wheel. As a new artist, you’ve got to find out what you’re going to be on that wheel. Find out who you are and put your spoke in that wheel. The only way you can do that is to be true to yourself and not be another Anita Baker. There’s one Anita Baker, you can’t have five or six more. There’s only one spoke for that.

MR: Perfect.

GD: And that’s a difficult thing! It’s easier said than done to find out who you are and bring that out and be vulnerable enough to allow that to happen. I know I’m talking a lot, but that’s the way I look at it.

MR: No, it’s so true. And is that the approach you take when you’re in the studio with an artist?

GD: Oh yeah. I try to find out what makes that artist tick. I can’t treat each artist the same. If I’m in there with Miles Davis, obviously, it’s not going to be the same as if you’re with Jeffrey Osborne or Barry Manilow. They’re totally different artists with different needs and you try to find that. That will bring out something special in these artists. It’s fun. It’s actually an adventure.

MR: Yeah. What advice did you get that you think is very important?

GD: Exactly what I said, and not to put all of my eggs in one basket. That’s what Frank told me. He sat me down one day and said, “George, you’re too single-minded. You need to open yourself up to other forms of music and use what you like. Just because you play some 1950 kinds of doo-wop with triads doesn’t mean the music doesn’t have some kind of value.” I was a pretty straight-laced jazz player at the time, so it took me a while to figure out the value of simpler forms of music other than straight edge jazz. That’s why I’m in the shape I’m in now. I guess to answer that question, that’s probably the best advice I’ve ever received and why I’m so eclectic now.