Keyboardist George Duke will be given a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Oasis Contemporary Jazz Awards in San Diego. Posthumous awards will also be handed out to Saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. and Bassist Wayman Tisdale for its Hall of Fame.
A multi-talented musician, Duke has worked with numerous acclaimed artists, spanning numerous genres as a recording artist, composer, record producer, professor of music, and music director. He made a name for himself with the album, “The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio" in 1969. He's known for his solo work, as well as his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa. Other high-profile collaborators include, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Cannonball Adderley, Dianne Reeves, Deniece Williams, Jeffrey Osborne, George Clinton , Anita Baker, Regina Belle, Rachelle Ferrell, Marilyn Scott and Mike Mainieri's jazz fusion group Steps Ahead.
Grover Washington, Jr. has been considered by many to be one of the creators of the smooth jazz genre. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Washington made some of the genre's most memorable hits, including “Mr. Magic," “Black Frost," and “The Best is Yet to Come." But it was his 1981 album, “Winelight," which included a collaboration with singer Bill Withers on the song, “Just the Two of Us" that established his greatest triumph. Washington died in 1999.
After ending his illustrious basketball career, which included an Olympic Gold medal in 1984 and included NBA stops in Indiana, Sacramento and Phoenix, Wayman Tisdale started a successful music career, concentrating on the Smooth Jazz genre. Tisdale released his first album, “Power Forward" in 1995 on the Motown Label. He recorded seven more albums, with the 2001 release Face to Face climbing to No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. His most recent release, Rebound, was written and released after he was diagnosed with cancer. Tisdale died in 2009.
All three awards with be handed out, along with 20 other categories on March 12.
A multi-talented musician, Duke has worked with numerous acclaimed artists, spanning numerous genres as a recording artist, composer, record producer, professor of music, and music director. He made a name for himself with the album, “The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio" in 1969. He's known for his solo work, as well as his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa. Other high-profile collaborators include, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Cannonball Adderley, Dianne Reeves, Deniece Williams, Jeffrey Osborne, George Clinton , Anita Baker, Regina Belle, Rachelle Ferrell, Marilyn Scott and Mike Mainieri's jazz fusion group Steps Ahead.
Grover Washington, Jr. has been considered by many to be one of the creators of the smooth jazz genre. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Washington made some of the genre's most memorable hits, including “Mr. Magic," “Black Frost," and “The Best is Yet to Come." But it was his 1981 album, “Winelight," which included a collaboration with singer Bill Withers on the song, “Just the Two of Us" that established his greatest triumph. Washington died in 1999.
After ending his illustrious basketball career, which included an Olympic Gold medal in 1984 and included NBA stops in Indiana, Sacramento and Phoenix, Wayman Tisdale started a successful music career, concentrating on the Smooth Jazz genre. Tisdale released his first album, “Power Forward" in 1995 on the Motown Label. He recorded seven more albums, with the 2001 release Face to Face climbing to No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. His most recent release, Rebound, was written and released after he was diagnosed with cancer. Tisdale died in 2009.
All three awards with be handed out, along with 20 other categories on March 12.
