Renedezvous
(1984)
My last record for Epic as a solo artist. I was feeling that I needed a label change, and I knew this was it! I met Steve Ferrone (Average White Band) through Jeffrey Osborne. He was another real solid drummer that I wanted to be part of this record. Also, Ndugu plays on a few cuts. I believe this is the first time that I used Paul Jackson on guitar on one of my records. Man, what a funky rhythm guitar player. Mike Sembello is back on board as well. Paulinho does the honors on percussion.
Basically another record full of vocals. Most of the music is for dancing. You know, the 80's were full of this stuff. Not my favorite thing to listen to today, but it does bring a smile to my face in spots.
Overall not a great record, but it does have some nice moments. One nice moment is a solo by Ernie Watts on "Take It On." "She Can Wait Forever" was written by a great young songwriter from LA that played second keyboards for a brief time with the Clarke/Duke Project. His name is Jeff Lieb.
You know it's funny to hear me sing that high. I absolutely cannot relate to all that high singing now, it sounds like somebody else!!
Well, I had another salute to Jimi Hendrix with "Better Ways." It's kind of a funky rock n roll tune. I always liked these kinds of grooves - they're just so wide open musically.
The last tune on the record is a shout back to my Brazilian influence. It's a nice tune that has a lot of singers on the chorus scatting a melody line.
It's 1984 and the end of my solo career at Epic Records. The last few bars of this record demonstrate the finality.
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George Duke