I Love the Blues, She Heard My Cry

George Duke has always been a musician who refused to limit himself to one style. Prior to I LOVE THE BLUES, which came out in 1975, Duke excelled in contexts both acoustic and electric, in straight-ahead jazz, arty rock (with Frank Zappa), and fusion. BLUES finds him fronting an all-star lineup (Lee Ritenour, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Flora Purim) in a set of fierce blues, soul/R&B, and rock songs (lead vocals by Duke) amid some nifty jazz-fusion instrumentals. This set is recommended to listeners as musically diverse as Duke himself.