George Duke - Aura Will Prevail

With it's intensive quartet, this 1975 recording again mirrors how far Duke, by his own admission, had moved away from the "smug and overly serious jazz musician" and towards a master of fusion, eager to experiment and add a note of humor to the music. With Santana drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, bassist Alphonso "Slim" Johnson, and the Brazilian percussion magician Airto Moriera, Duke designed stunning scenarios in sound which once more reveals him to be one of the synthesizer pioneers. On "Dawn" he paints a fanciful daybreak atmosphere on the keyboards. On "Floop de Loop" he releases funky rushing rivulets from the keyboards. Whereas on the smooth rock piece "For Love" and soft ballad "Fools", he appears on the scene as a soulful singer. There's something slightly naughty coursing through the bluesy, laid-back funk miniature, "Foosh". Duke's former collaboration with the Mothers of Invention colored his versions of Zappa's "Echidna's Arf" and "Uncle Remus". There's a samba touch in the relaxed tropical magic of "Malibu", and the outro "The Aura" also swings to a Latin feel.