George Burnett Duvivier was born August 17, 1920 to Leon and Ismay Duvivier in New York City. Duvivier's formal music education began in 1928 when he was enrolled at the Conservatory of Musical Art in New York City and began instruction in violin. While playing violin with the Central Manhattan Symphony, Duvivier started playing bass around 1934, and it remained his primary instrument for the rest of his career. In 1939 Duvivier accepted a music scholarship to New York University, where he studied bass performance, composition and arrangement, but he did not complete a degree before being inducted into military service in 1942.
George Duvivier was active as a bassist, arranger and composer in New York City from around 1935 until his death in 1985, and he briefly composed for and rehearsed military ensembles in Camp Shelby, Mississippi and Fort Warren, Wyoming during his Army service. Highlights of his musical career include playing, arranging and composing for Count Basie, Benny Carter, Bing Crosby, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Lena Horne, Quincy Jones, Tito Puente and Doc Severinsen, as well as performing with the bands of the Today Show, Merv Griffin Show and the Dick Cavett Show. George Duvivier died of cancer on July 11, 1985.
Contributor: (48521849)∼George Duvivier, was one of the most respected bassist in the jazz idiom. He was also an acomplished Composer and Arranger and member of A.S.C.A.P. Duvivier has performed with such notables as Lena Horne,Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, Barbara Streisand as well as Jazz Greats Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Benny Carter, Benny Goodman, Hank Jones and Bud Powell. His list of credits would be too numerous to mention. George, was also a staff musician for ABC, NBC and CBS and has played on hundreds of recordings through out his career. Duvivier was the epitome of what it means to be a professional musician. When Duvivier succumbed to cancer in 1985 the world lost a beautiful soul.