Blue Notes: George Duke's final album 'Dreamweaver'

There's always a poignancy about music recorded by artists who know their days are numbered. Some musicians manage to go out on a career high, even with the grim reaper sitting in the studio.

In jazz, that includes saxophonist Michael Brecker, whose final album, Pilgrimage, was released in 2007. It was recorded while the 57-year-old was in the latter stages of leukaemia, and was generally recognised as an artistic triumph when it came out a few months after his death.

George Duke, who died on August 5, lived just long enough to see the release of his swansong, Dreamweaver. Duke, 67, had worked with Brecker and it would be nice to report that his album is of the same quality as Pilgrimage, but that's not quite true. However, it is a balanced representation of the different facets of Duke's talents, and includes examples of all the styles of music he played.

Although most obituaries called him a jazz keyboardist, much of Duke's discography as a performer and record producer could be more aptly described as rock - particularly the 15 or so albums he made with Frank Zappa - or R&B.

Duke Ellington inspired Duke to become a pianist, and his early recordings with Jean-Luc Ponty also reflected the influence of McCoy Tyner. However, it was as a master of electronic keyboards that he made his mark , first working concurrently with the markedly contrasting bands of Zappa and Cannonball Adderley.

Along with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Joe Zawinul, who he replaced in the Adderley band, Duke was one of the synthesiser heroes of the early jazz-fusion period, and one of the first to tire of its often empty displays of virtuosity. He was at heart a populist, drawn to grooves and hummable tunes, which made him a good collaborator for pop artists seeking to add a little sophistication to their music, and for jazz artists wishing to go down a more commercial path.

Duke thrived as a co-leader, working first on that basis with Ponty and later with drummer Billy Cobham and bassist Stanley Clarke. He worked with Deniece Williams and Michael Jackson, but also with John Scofield and Miles Davis. And he produced for his cousin, jazz singer Dianne Reeves.