“I Have to Be Arthur Duncan”: Influence, Identity, and Finding Your Own Sound
Introduction“I’m not Herbie Hancock on piano, and I never will be Herbie Hancock,” says Springfield, Missouri, keyboardist Arthur Duncan. “I have to be Arthur Duncan.”His mother started teaching him piano and organ when he was five. Today he leads one of Springfield’s busiest jazz groups with bassist Ernie Bedell and drummer Richard Allen, friends who grew up a few blocks from his house. In this conversation, Arthur reflects on learning from the greats without imitating them, and on the years it took to find a sound of his own.Discussion PointsArthur urges young musicians to “learn every style you can get,” from gospel and blues to Stevie Wonder, because it makes you well-rounded. A wide range of influences is where a personal sound begins.He has never stopped studying. He learned from his mother, practiced four to five hours a day at Drury, and learned from Springfield elders like Dallas Bartley and BeBop Brown. He still learns from younger players. But learning someone’s style, he insists, is not the same as trying to be them.Asked about imposter syndrome, Arthur answers with gratitude instead of comparison. He loves Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and George Duke “because they were excellent,” but he has never wanted to play like them note for note. His standard is excellence on his own terms: a well-rehearsed “quality sound.”He never plays a song the same way twice. He reworks chords, inversions, and arrangements until, in his words, “we make it ours.” It’s like cooking soup, he says: you have to add your own flavors.“I don’t look at no as no,” Arthur says. “I look at no as next opportunity.” That outlook turned a four-month Monday-night trial into a four-year residency. It also shapes his advice to young artists: not everyone becomes famous, but you can be the best that you can be.Recommended Listening“Sun Goddess,” Ramsey Lewis & Earth, Wind & Fire (1974) Listen on Apple Music, where the title track opens the album: https://music.apple.com/us/album/sun-goddess/323404732 appleappleThis is Arthur’s one essential recording, and a song he once worked hard to learn. He loves how the chords and groove settle in before Lewis takes the melody. Fittingly for this episode, it’s a story of reinvention. By 1974, Lewis felt his approach had run its course. He reunited with his former drummer, Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White, and began experimenting with electric keyboards.Further Listening & ReadingRamsey Lewis Trio, “The ‘In’ Crowd” (still in Arthur’s set list) and “Wade in the Water”Arthur’s gospel touchstones: Andraé Crouch, Richard Smallwood, John P. Kee, Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, Marvin SappErnie Bedell’s Generation B Music and Melodies, a history of his musical family that also features BeBop Brown and Dallas Bartley, plus his oral history interview with Missouri State University Libraries: https://youtu.be/H6Aesb5Uv-M Follow Arthur on Facebook for videos and upcoming dates, including an Earth, Wind & Fire tribute he’s planning for late January: https://facebook.com/arthur.duncan.90. And take his parting advice: support live music wherever you are.
