George Duke The Era Will Prevail: The MPS Studio Years 1973-1976 180g 7LP Box Set

A curious happenstance in 1966 triggered the partnership between MPS head Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer and George Duke. Brunner-Schwer was in San Francisco to record the Art van Damme Quintet. After finishing the recording session one evening, he and his team strolled over to a club called the Jazz Workshop. Les McCann was supposed to be playing, but this particular day was his day off. Instead, a 20 year old pianist, still involved in his studies, was performing with his quartet. The music's freshness so enthralled the German that he set up a recording session on the spot. This encounter between George Duke and Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer in sunny California was both accidental and noteworthy. It turned out to be the jazzy prologue to future events: five years later the American began his fusion-infused sessions for the man from Germany's Black Forest. These sessions are the theme of this box set with its seven LPs. Some 40 through 45 years after their initial releases, these albums still count as a fascinating and essential part of George Duke's life's-work and canon of the genre.

This impeccable seven LP box of George Duke's greatest works is a fantastic addition to any jazz lover's library. Included in this box are albums The Inner Source, Faces in Reflection, Feel, I Love The Blues, She Heard My Cry, The Aura Will Prevail, and Liberated Fantasies.

Specially by MPS Jazz, there has been a removal of all traces of aging from the original MPS tapes, meticulous analog optimizing, strict adherence to the sound aesthetics of the era, and pure analogue transfer to the lacquer master.

Musically the high point of the ten-year collaboration with Brunner-Schwer occurred during the MPS years, which saw six full-length releases...the albums from that period comprise The Era Will Prevail...Cut from original mastertapes, this stylish-looking set boasts polished sound that skillfully blends Duke's richly-layered keyboards with the intricacies of first-rate rhythm sections...Duke created music that was heady yet soulful and sophisticated yet accessible. Unlike some 1970s musicians surrounded by racks of keyboards, Duke focused less on flash, pyrotechnics, and displays or virtuousity than colorful soundscapes that could mezmerize the listener...