Jazz / Jazz-Pop; Crossover Jazz; Smooth Jazz; Contemporary Jazz
Recorded: Le Gonks West, Conway Studios & Ocean Way Studio A, Los Angeles, California.
With a several decade career as an artist and producer successfully spanning the realms of bebop, fusion, soul, and funk, nothing gives George Duke more pleasure than being able to go back to his basics as an acoustic jazz pianist on his smooth, multifaceted Warner Bros. debut, Snapshot. The keyboardist takes listeners on a whimsical, generally cool journey through the myriad styles he's purveyed over the years: Latin, pop, R&B, and live-in-the-studio jazz. Snapshot seems divided by Duke's pop sensibilities and these urges to simplify those electronic trappings. The grooving "History (I Remember)" and the breezy "Geneva" smooth out the rough edges perfectly, but it's the easy funk of the message tune, "Fame," which seems most inspired. A fiery acoustic piano run combines with Gary Grant/Jerry Hey horns for a perfect texturing of Duke's jazz and top pop hit-producing resumes. Tunes like the title track and "The Morning After" are fairly mundane, on the other hand, a little too generic in the quiet storm department, but, overall, Snapshot nicely reflects the state of Duke circa early '90s smooth jazz. Cut through the chaff and the remaining wheat here represents an artist pretty much doing what he does best: a little bit of everything in a mostly artistically satisfying manner.
---Jonathan Widran, allmusic
George Duke - vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, synthesizer
Phil Perry, Chante Moore, Jeffrey Osborne, Howard Hewitt, Lori Perry, Phillip Bailey, Deniece Williams, Keith Washington - vocals
George Howard - soprano saxophone
Everett Hart - alto saxophone
Larry Williams - tenor saxophone
Jerry Hay - trumpet
Gary Grant - trumpet
Reginald Young - trombone
Hubert Laws - flute
Paul Jackson Jr. - acoustic & electric guitars
Ray Fuller - guitar
Larry Kimpell - bass
Dennis Chambers - drums
Ndugu Chancler - drums
Sheila E - congas, percussion
Airto Moriera - percussion
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
Rachell Farrell - background vocals
Jim Gilstrap - background vocals |
