Long before David Lynch, before Denis Villeneuve, before the blockbuster adaptations and billion-dollar franchises, Frank Herbert’s Dune found a home in jazz-funk. In 1977, keyboardist and bandleader David Matthews released Dune on CTI Records, a fusion-driven suite inspired by the novel’s vast desert landscapes, political intrigue, and spiritual mysticism. Side A is a 20-minute odyssey, featuring Arrakis, Sandworms, Song of the Bene Gesserit, and Muad’dib, weaving deep grooves and cosmic textures. Side B takes a left turn, merging sci-fi cinema with jazz, including covers of Star Wars, Silent Running, and Space Oddity, later sampled by MF DOOM. It’s part jazz poetry, part sci-fi homage, and entirely ahead of its time.
