Composer, producer, and pianist George Duke is keeping as busy as ever. He was featured on the Number One smooth jazz hit "The Total Experience" by saxophonist Boney James, and recently released the crowd-pleasing album In A Mellow Tone. Starting tomorrow, January 20th, he'll be part of the 2007 Smooth Jazz Cruise departing Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and hosted by bassist Wayman Tisdale.

 Duke is celebrating 40 years in the music industry this year. He attributes his longevity to the inspiration of his mentors. "People like the late Miles Davis," Duke told DailyBulletin.com. "They laid the seeds to make me find my own way. Because I change styles so much, some people may think, 'Hey I don't know who this guy is.' But I love music and I subscribe to the Star Trek theory of: Let's see what's out there."

The artist will be working as a producer on new albums by his cousin, Grammy winner Dianne Reeves, and vocalist Chante Moore. A long-awaited reunion of Duke with bassist Stanley Clarke will be put on the back burner for now as the keyboardist also begins work on his next solo set.

"I'm going to go way back to my funky roots and bring out some of my old school colleagues like Chaka Khan and Bootsy (Collins) to be on it," said Duke of his next CD. "And we're going to see what we can come up with."