Home » Jazz Musicians » Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
An impresario in the broadest and most creative sense of the word, Quincy Jones’ career has encompassed the roles of composer, record producer, artist, film producer, arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, TV producer, record company executive, magazine founder, multi-media entrepreneur and humanitarian. As a master inventor of musical hybrids, he has shuffled pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, classical, African and Brazilian music into many dazzling fusions, traversing virtually every medium, including records, live performance, movies and television.
Celebrating more than 60 years performing and being involved in music, Quincy’s creative magic has spanned over six decades, beginning with the music of the post-swing era and continuing through today’s high-technology, international multi-media hybrids. In the mid-50’s, he was the first popular conductor-arranger to record with a Fender bass. His theme from the hit TV series Ironside was the first synthesizer- based pop theme song. As the first black composer to be embraced by the Hollywood establishment in the 60’s, he helped refresh movie music with badly needed infusions of jazz and soul. His landmark 1989 album, Back On The Block–named “Album Of The Year” at the 1990 Grammy Awards– brought such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Miles Davis together with Ice T, Big Daddy Kane and Melle Mel to create the first fusion of the be bop and hip hop musical traditions; while his 1993 recording of the critically acclaimed Miles and Quincy Live At Montreux, featured Quincy conducting Miles Davis’ live performance of the historic Gil Evans arrangements from the Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain sessions, garnered a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance. As producer and conductor of the historic “We Are The World” recording (the best-selling single of all time) and Michael Jackson’s multi-platinum solo albums, Off The Wall, Bad and Thriller (the best selling album of all time, with over 50 million copies sold), Quincy Jones stands as one of the most successful and admired creative artist/executives in the entertainment world.
His 1995 recording, Q’s Jook Joint, again showcased Quincy’s ability to mold the unique talents of an eclectic group of singers and musicians, in what resulted in a retrospective of his broad and diverse career from that of a seasoned Jazz musician, to skilled composer, arranger, and bandleader, to acclaimed record producer.
A reference to the backwoods club houses of rural America in the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s, the platinum selling Q’s Jook Joint featured performances by artists such as Bono, Brandy, Ray Charles, Phil Collins, Coolio, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Gloria Estefan, Rachelle Ferrell, Aaron Hall, Herbie Hancock, Heavy D., Ron Isley, Chaka Khan, R. Kelly, Queen Latifah, Tone Loc, the Luniz, Brian McKnight, Melle Mel, Shaquille O’Neal, Joshua Redman, the Broadway musical troupe Stomp, SWV, Take 6, newcomer Tamia, Toots Thielemans, Mervyn Warren, Barry White, Warren Wiebe, Charlie Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Mr. X, and Yo-Yo, among others, and garnered seven Grammy nominations. His recording, From Q, With Love, featured a collection of 26 love songs that he recorded over the last 32 years of his more than 50 year career in the music business.
Read moreTags
Quincy Jones, Jorge Pardo, Nat Birchall, Mulatu, Jhelisa, Nautilus, And More
by Tony Poole
Tony Poole selects his favourite new releases and pre-releases. The opening track remembers Quincy Jones with a rare live version of Killer Joe from 1972. Playlist Roberta Flack & Quincy Jones RIP On A Clear Day/Killer Joe" from Save The Children OST (Motown) 00:00 Intro Music They Call It Jazz" 08:27 James O'Donnell Quintet Quintet Mean Greens" from Tough Talk (Eastlawn Records) 10:00 Nicholas Britell It's Time" from Blitz OST (Milan Records/Sony Music) 15:46 Jorge Pardo Asier Y ...
Continue ReadingRemembering Quincy Jones: Music Is Like Water
by Ian Patterson
Quincy Jones, a giant of popular music culture in the 20th and 21st centuries, died in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 3, He was 91. Though he began his career in the '50s as a jazz trumpeter, Quincy Jones may be best remembered as a highly successful producer, arranger and conductor--hats he wore with increasing frequency from the '60s onwards. As a producer, Jones was at the helm of Michael Jackson's Thriller (Epic, 1982), which would sell 70 ...
Continue ReadingQuincy Jones: An Evening With A Legend
by Solomon J. LeFlore
This article was first published on All About Jazz on October 31, 2014. I love jazz! I love everything about it... the improvisation, syncopation, the forceful rhythm, and the fact that it is truly America's original art form. Its unique and innovative use of brass and woodwind instruments and the piano is jazz. And, it is as American as apple pie. Ask 100 different people What is jazz? and you're likely to get 100 different answers. ...
Continue ReadingSeptember Songs - Part 2
by Ludovico Granvassu
September offers an opportunity to refocus on our inner energies and start a new cycle with renewed awareness and intentions--basically back to school and beyond... This segment of the show features more songs inspired by this month, with a special focus on five masterpieces that were recorded during a magical couple of weeks in September 1962. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Johnnie Taylor It's September" Super ...
Continue ReadingUmbria Jazz 2018: Part 1-2
by Roberto Cifarelli
Photos of several concerts held between July 13 and 15 at the 2018 Umbria Jazz Festival, featuring Quincy Jones, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Patti Austin, Noa, Paolo Fresu, Gianluca Petrella, John Clayton, and Chiara Civello. ...
Continue ReadingUmbria Jazz 2018 - prima parte
by Libero Farnè
Umbria Jazz Varie sedi Perugia 13-16.07.2018 Seguire Umbria Jazz significa soprattutto frequentare in tutte le ore della giornata i suoi diversi e caratterizzati spazi; sono loro infatti che, all'aperto o al chiuso, con la loro storia, dimensione, accessibilità, sono commisurati a una programmazione differenziata per generi musicali e forza attrattiva dei protagonisti, destinata a varie fasce di pubblico. Come vedremo, la mappa dei luoghi del jazz perugini, tutti collocati nel centro storico con innumerevoli appuntamenti ...
Continue ReadingQuincy Jones And His Orchestra: Live In Ludwigshafen 1961
by Dan Bilawsky
Artistic dreams and financial realities are rarely in alignment. That's a sad fact that the great Quincy Jones learned the hard way at the dawn of the '60s. Jones was in Europe at the time, directing a dream orchestra that he put together for the musical Free And Easy. When that show closed in February of 1960, he decided to keep things going. The big band tours that followed--in 1960 and 1961--were, by all accounts, successful in an artistic sense; ...
Continue ReadingQuincy Jones (1933-2024)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Quincy Jones, whose name became synonymous with excellence in music and whose contributions to jazz opened a new age of swinging elegance influenced by French pop and modern classical, died on November 3. He was 91. Rather than write again about Jones's many accomplishments, I feel it's more illustrative to listen to his career in 14 clips. Please note that this merely scratches the surface: Here's Jones's composition Work of Art recorded by the Art Farmer Septet in July 1953, ...
read more
Backgrounder: Quincy Jones - Americans in Paris
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1957, Quincy Jones moved to Paris to study composition and theory with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen. In his spare time, the producer, composer, arranger, bandleader and conductor became music director at Barclay, a French record company owned by Eddie Barclay, a composer-arranger and contractor. Barclay also was the licensee for Mercury in France. Jones's first album for the label was Et Voila!, which was released on United Artists in the U.S. as Americans in Paris. In addition to ...
read more
VMP Announces Vinyl Experience Celebrating Quincy Jones
Source:
All About Jazz
Vinyl Me, Please (VMP) today announces VMP Anthology: The Story of Quincy Jones to celebrate the music, film and TV producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, performer and all-around living legend, Quincy Jones. This exclusive, limited-edition vinyl box set takes listeners on an immersive experience through Jones’ nearly seven decades long career working alongside the biggest names and hottest genres—from bebop to pop, rap to jazz, Miles Davis to Michael Jackson, Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra. VMP Anthology: The Story of ...
read more
Video: Quincy Jones Big Band in France
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Quincy Jones had a sterling jazz career in the 1950s arranging and conducting for top jazz recording artists. He also recorded with his own band. By 1959, Jones decided to invest in a touring production of Harold Arlen's jazz musical Free and Easy that used his arrangements for 18 musicians instead of a full orchestra. Free and Easy premiered in Amsterdam on December 7, 1959 and continued pre-opening performances in Brussels, Amsterdam again and Sweden in late 1959 and early ...
read more
BBC Doc: Quincy Jones
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Regardless of what you think about Quincy Jones, The Many Lives of Q will likely change your mind. The BBC documentary from 2008, directed by Deborah Perkin, tracks the composer-arranger's career from the very beginning in the late 1940s and provides an overview of the many music and film projects that bear his touch and textures. From Lionel Hampton to Dinah Washington, from Leslie Gore to Count Basie, from Paris to Hollywood, and from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, Jones ...
read more
Quincy Jones in Paris, 1960
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1957, Quincy Jones moved to Paris. There, he studied with Nadia Boulanger, a French composer who educated numerous expatiate American composers and bandleaders. As Boulanger told Jones, Your music can never be more or less than you are as a human being." To pay the bills, Jones took a job with Barclay, the French record label, where he produced and arranged sessions for French pop singers and touring American jazz vocalists. After 19 months, Jones returned to New York. ...
read more
Producer Quincy Jones Proposes A Music Stock Index Fund
Source:
HypeBot
While there have long been index funds built around media and tech stocks, there has never been an index fund created specifically around music, something which famed producer Quincy Jones is hoping to change. Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 One way to invest in the stock market reasonably safely is by investing in an index fund, which is a type of mutual fund with a portfolio constructed to match or track a market index, such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500). ...
read more
Qwest TV by Quincy Jones: Only 1 day left to fund "The Netflix of Jazz" (Kevin Le Gendre - BBC Radio 3) on Kickstarter
Source:
Michael Ricci
Qwest TV is self-financed. The Kickstarter campaign has to be a success and we need to give birth to Qwest TV. We're approaching our goal on Kickstarter. Now is the time to help get Qwest TV to the finish line! To give everyone unlimited access to the music that helped to shape our cultural foundations: Jazz! Support with us Quincy Jones’ dream, Qwest TV spiritual godfather. Let's build together a service dedicated to jazz and beyond that embraces music lovers ...
read more
Quincy Jones Presents Young Jazz Talent at The Broad Stage, Santa Monica
Source:
Chris M. Slawecki
As part of The Broad Stage’s Jazz Council Initiative, the Quincy Jones Presents series kicks off this fall with an astonishing array of musical talent. The series starts with a concert with Justin Kauflin on November 22nd. Kauflin, a talented young pianist who lost his sight due to a rare eye disease at 11, will be the subject of Academy-Award winning producer Paula Dupre Pesmen’s upcoming documentary, Keep on Keepin' On. The series continues into 2014 with performances by Singapore-born ...
read more
Recent Listening in Brief: Quincy Jones
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Preparing for my public conversation with Quincy Jones (two items down), I’ve been reading his 2001 autobiography, chatting with people he knows and listening to his music. The inventiveness, sparkle and audacity of Jones’ arrangements in the 1950s and early ‘60s gave his music freshness that was notable when he was in his twenties. Now that he’s nearing 80, these works of his youth are still among the most vital big band recordings of an era in which Count Basie, ...
read more