Deja Vu

George Duke | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Heads Up
• ASIN: B003S6T5ZY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,475 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

When keyboardist-composer-producer George Duke made a return trip to the heyday of funk on his 2008 recording, Dukey Treats, he reminded his fans and the music press of exactly what made the good old stuff so good. DownBeat called it "a wild and crazy album, especially if you're nostalgic about the guitar-scratching, double-clutching rhythms of James Brown and George Clinton and the bedroom ballads of Stevie Wonder and Aaron Neville." The Philadephia Enquirer called it simply "a valentine to funk." Duke returns to that same wellspring for Déjà Vu. The album revisits the synthesizer sound that characterized some of his most memorable recordings from the golden age of funk and soul.

"The whole idea behind Déjà Vu was to take a look back at some of the stuff I used to do that was a little more musically challenging," says Duke. "In some way or another, whatever happened before always comes around again. It may be a little different, but it will resurface. That's kind of what this album is - a resurfacing of some ideas I had back in the `70s when I recorded albums with a lot of synthesizers, like Feel and The Aura Will Prevail.

Still, Déjà Vu does feature a few more shades of straightahead and contemporary jazz than its predecessor - as evidenced by fine guest performances throughout the record by trumpeter Nicholas Payton, flutist Hubert Laws and saxophonist Bob Sheppard. "These are three very strong instrumentalists," says Duke. "We do it here just like we did in the old days. Everybody gets a shot at playing. It's not just me playing a solo and then we take it out. I try to keep it a little more democratic. It's the typical jazz scenario of the old days, where everybody gets to play."

In the final analysis, Déjà Vu is a glance back, but with a very contemporary sensibility - a piece of work that comes together very much in the present, but also conjures up a persistent feeling of something great that came before. "I've always considered myself a multi-stylistic artist," says Duke. "I try to take people on a musical journey, whether it's on an album or in a show. I think the style of music that you choose to play is really irrelevant, as long as you're honest about what you're trying to present."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OMG this is real music, August 21, 2010

By 

K. Frazier "Calimusicman" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Deja Vu (Audio CD)

All i can say is listen young folks! This is real music. Can you hear it? I always have been a fan of duke, he is a GReat producer, writer, and singer! From the first song i was hooked, (A Melody) is now one of my favorites. No real words but vocals and music are just amazing! This is the Duke we loved from his Snapshot days! Buy it and put this on at night with your lover! A glass of wine that is all you need. No words need to be said. Thank you George Duke!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars George Duke Bringing Joy And Other Things, August 10, 2010

By 

Andre S. Grindle "Andre' Grindle" (Brewer Maine) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Deja Vu (Audio CD)

Considering the all out funk assault of his previous album Dukey Treats it's not a big surprise that his following release. His independantly released BPM albums from 2003 have all been extremely high quality and varied in their flavor and this album continues very much in that vein. Aside from Everett Harp,Paul Jackson and Hubert Laws most the musicians here aren't quite as well known. The idea of this music wouldn't appear to be about creating any kind of supergroup of already established name but,as the description of this album here on Amazon.com indicates to return work to the world of primarily instrumental jazz. That's not to say it's a retro excersise and neither is it clished smooth jazz. On some of the vocal numbers such as "Bring Me Joy" and "6 O'Clock Revisited" there is a definate sense of mingling a light groove with a strong jazzy sense. And that sense is something that really permeates most of the album. Songs such as "A Melody","Oh Really" and "Stupid Is As Stupid Does" all look to George Duke's fusion flavors more than his funk flavors and even though there's a distinct combination of the two they are both seperate styles of playing in many ways;one is slicker and the other tends to be faster and more bombastic. The one thing that actually helps the fusion jazz oriented numbers here from being too over the top is the fact that Duke comes at them with something of a funk styled approch which marked many of his classic album masterpieces such as Feel. The reason I deduct one star for this album is the fact this album is lacking to a fairly large degree on the melody department. On songs that spin out from fusion to funk such as "You Touch My Brain" it's on full demonstration for all to see but other times the instrumentatal work is more paramount than melody and harmonic construction and I know from his long career Duke is more than capable of bringing all of this together. More over this album is vital mood music even if the melodies are a lot less evident than would be expected from Duke. In terms of material he's still in a class all by himself and always will be. And more albums of this style would be welcome in the future as long as more carefully crafts his melodic themes before improvising on them.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars George Duke! What's left to say?, September 18, 2010

By 

M. G. Hamer (Oak Ridge, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deja Vu (Audio CD)

George Duke, who always seems to put out good albums, (I own most of them) has released a great album in "Deja Vu". Thre's great playing, great production, and diverse styling in the compositions. One of the things that I've always admired about George is his commitment to being authentic to every genre that he plays. There is never any pretentiousness in anything that he plays. Thanks, George, for consistantly being true to the music.