George Duke - From Me To You (1977) - €7,99

From Me to You is the tenth studio album by American keyboardist and record producer George Duke.
It was released in 1977 through Epic Records, making it his debut release for the label. Recording sessions for the album took place at Paramount Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California.
The album features contributions from several musicians, including vocalist Dianne Reeves, guitarist Michael Sembello, bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, percussionist Emil Richards, saxophonist Ernie Watts, trombonist Glenn Ferris, trumpeter Bobby Bryant, cellist Ray Kelley and others.

George Duke was never a myopic jazz purist -- the keyboardist/singer/producer/composer always had a healthy appreciation of soul, funk, and rock. Nonetheless, instrumental jazz was his main focus prior to 1977.
It was in 1977 that Duke placed jazz on the back burner and made vocal-oriented R&B his top priority. The album that marked this change of direction was From Me to You, which was the first of two R&B-oriented releases that Epic put out for the artist in 1977 -- the second was the superb Reach for It.
This LP contains a few noteworthy fusion instrumentals, including the driving "Up on It" and the contemplative "Seasons." But From Me to You is an R&B album more than anything, and Duke lets the funk prevail on vocal-oriented tracks like "Sing It" and "Carry On" (which he revisited when he produced Flora Purim's Carry On LP in 1979).
Occasionally, this album is excellent, although most of the time, it is merely decent -- on From Me to You, Duke doesn't wear the soul/funk hat as confidently as he did on subsequent R&B-oriented projects like Reach for It, Don't Let Go, and Follow the Rainbow.
This record is a bit uneven, although it has more plusses than minuses and is worth hearing if you're among Duke's hardcore fans.


Side A
A1.  From Me To You - 1:44
A2.  Carry On - 4:35
A3.  What Do They Really Fear? - 4:27
A4.  ‘Scuse Me Miss - 3:34
A5.  You And Me - 3:39
A6.  Broken Dreams - 2:47

Side B
B1.  Up On It - 9:02
B2.  Seasons - 5:45
B3.  Down In It - 1:21
B4.  Sing It - 4:07


Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Inc.
• Copyright (c) – CBS Inc.
• Manufactured By – CBS Inc.
• Manufactured By – Epic Records
• Mastered At – Kendun Recorders

Personnel

• George Duke – vocals, keyboards, percussion, arrangements
• Michael Sembello – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Stanley Clarke – acoustic bass, electric bass 
• Byron Lee Miller – electric bass 
• Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums
• Emil Richards – percussion 
• William Green – flute, piccolo flute , saxophone 
• Ernie Watts – flute , piccolo flute , saxophone 
• Glenn Ferris – trombone 
• Lew McCreary – trombone 
• Bobby Brant – trumpet 
• Walt Fowler – trumpet 
• Murray Adler – strings 
• Pamela Goldsmith – strings 
• Allan Harshman – strings 
• Jacqueline Lustgarten – strings 
• Raymond Kelley – strings 
• William Kurasch – strings 
• Jay Rosen – strings 
• Polly Sweeney – strings 
• Lawrence Pecot Robinson – handclaps
• Debbie Robinson – handclaps
• Leslie Kearney – handclaps
• Dennis Moody – handclaps
• Darrell Cox – handclaps
• Bruce W. Talamon – handclaps
• Dianne Reeves – vocals 
• Jessica Smith – backing vocals
• Julia Tillman Waters – backing vocals
• Maxine Willard Waters – backing vocals

Production

• George Duke – producer
• Kerry McNabb – engineer
• John Golden – mastering at Kendun Recorders (Burbank, California).
• Nancy Donald – design
• Cynthia Marsh – artwork
• Bruce W. Talamon – photography

Notes
Release: 1977
Format:  LP
Genre:  Jazz-Soul, Funk
Label:  Epic Records
Catalog#  AL 34469
Prijs:  €7,99

Vinyl:  Good
Cover: ood

http://www.ad-vinylrecords.com/product/duke-george-from-me-to-you-lp/