In 1981 George Duke and Stanley Clarke began their official collaboration together with the release of Clarke/Duke Project, which produced the top ten smash hit, “Sweet Baby.” In total they have recorded three albums. Over the course of their funk-filled and genre-smashing collaborations, Clarke and Duke have created performances full of fun, energy and exceptional musicianship with a big bottom and keyboard flights of fancy. More of the same fantastic musical roller-coaster ride is on the way with their new CLARKE/DUKE 4 “BRING IT” Tour.
It has been six years since they last toured together and both are looking forward to the CLARKE/DUKE 4 “BRING IT” Tour. Clarke remarks, “I’m looking forward to these performances, because the most fun I have touring is with George. We have a good time together. We’re both older and more experienced. Our repertoire is more all-encompassing and much more diverse.”
Duke adds, “Touring with Stanley is always a good thing, because he’s a nut. He’s the younger brother I never had. We each have different perspectives on music, but at the same time a lot of similarities. It’s the diversity of our backgrounds that makes it interesting. My musical background is West Coast and Stanley’s is East Coast. I came from R&B, where Stanley came more from rock.”
The CLARKE/DUKE 4 “BRING IT” Tour should be extra-special because both Clarke and Duke broke new ground in the movement that spearheaded jazz-fusion in the early 1970s. Thirty plus years later there is longevity to that movement as shown by the oft-sold-out, highly successful Return To Forever world tour in 2010-2011. It’s an opportunity to be able to go out on tour and perform a style of music that they helped pioneer.
08/29/12 Vienna, VA Wolftrap United States
09/01/12 High Point, NC The John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival Oak Hollow Lake Park United States
09/03/12 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Jazz Fest United States
10/20/12 – 10/27/12 Carribean Cruise Capital Jazz Supercruise United States
Source: Smooth Jazz Buzz
