Center Stage:

The George Duke Trio, Brian Bromberg, Terri Lyne Carrington at The Jazz Bakery, 12/31. California native, piano/synthesizer pioneer, and five time Grammy award winner, Duke earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the San Francisco Conservatory in 1967. He’s known for his collaborations with luminaries like Frank Zappa and Stanley Clarke, but his own work is quite extensive. From 1965 to 1967, he was the resident pianist at The Half Note, accompanying legends like Dizzy Gillespie. His crossover to the rock genre began when he joined Zappa’s band in 1970. Together, they wrote “Uncle Remus,” a song about “black attitude and oppression” and Zappa encouraged him to “sing and joke and use electronics.” His 1978 “Dukey Stick” was often compared to Funkadelic, and in 1986 he arranged “Backyard Ritual” for Miles Davis. He has the chops and the street cred to groove straight-ahead jazz, jazz-rock and jazz-funk without missing a beat. Tonight’s event is a fund raiser for the non-profit Jazz Bakery, plus the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, so come out to support a good cause, get one last tax deduction, ring in the new year, and dig. (310) 271-9039. More info: www.jazzbakery.org