Brother Jack McDuff

American jazz organist and band leader, born Eugene McDuffy 17 September 1926, Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A., died 23 January 2001, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.

Jack McDuff was a talented bandleader and organist with the Hammond B-3 who started his career in the 50s as a pianist and bass player. After joining Willis Jackson Quintet on organ, McDuff formed his own band in the 60s with saxophonist Harold Vick, drummer Joe Dukes, and a young George Benson on guitar. During the 60s and 70s he released albums on labels like Prestige, Atlantic, and Blue Note, each featuring his signature organ sound.

By the late 70s he switched to synthesisers and released albums on Chess and Sugar Hill Records, before switching back to the organ for 1988’s comeback album The Reentry. At the time of his death in 2001 Jack McDuff had just finished recording his final album Brotherly Love.