George Duke - Master Of The Game (1979)
1 Look What You Find
2 Every Little Step I Take
3 Games
4 I Want You For Myself
5 In The Distance
6 .I Love You More
7 Dog-Man
8 Everybody's Talkin'
9 Part 1 - The Alien Challenges The Stick / Part 2 - The Alien Succumbs To The Macho Intergalactic Funkativity Of The Funkblasters.
Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Arranged By, Bells, Clavinet, Composed By, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Keyboards, Organ, Synthesizer, Written-by, Vocals - George Duke
Bass - Byron Miller
Drums - Ricky Lawson
Guitar - David Myles
Percussion - Sheila Escovedo
Saxophone, Flute - Gary Herbig
Trombone - Bill Reichenbach
Trumpet, Flugelhorn - Jerry Hey
Vocals - Josie James , Napoleon M. Brock.
Master Of The Game
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Review by Alex Henderson
Although George Duke first made his mark as a jazz instrumentalist, late-1970s classics like Reach for It, Don't Let Go, and Follow the Rainbow made it clear that he could also be an expressive R&B singer. But he didn't want to handle all of the lead vocals himself; so during that period, his role was that of a producer/keyboardist/songwriter who was more than happy to share the lead vocals with Lynn Davis, Josie James, and others. Davis enjoyed a lot of exposure on R&B stations when, in 1979, Duke featured her on "I Want You for Myself," the haunting single that made Master of the Game one of his best-selling albums. Her charismatic performance makes the listener wonder why she never had a solo career; the talent was certainly there. This album contains a few jazz fusion instrumentals (including the Latin-flavored "Dog-Man"), but it's an R&B release first and foremost -- and those who like Duke as an R&B artist will find this album to be enjoyable, if less than essential. "I Want You for Myself" and the mellow, Stylistics-influenced "Every Little Step I Take" are gems, but most of the other selections are merely decent instead of excellent. On the whole, this album isn't in a class with Reach for It, Don't Let Go, or Follow the Rainbow, which are arguably his most essential R&B-oriented albums. But it has more pluses than minuses and is worth having in your collection if you're a serious fans of Duke's late 1970s/early 1980s output.