Quincy Jones - A Musical Legend

Quincy Jone (wikimedia)

Quincy Jones is no more

According to Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, Jones passed away on November 3rd. night at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles. He said that "we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones—the most adaptable artist of the past and this century. He is  best known for producing albums for other musicians. Some of his notable works include Michael Jackson's  Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad in the 1980s. this album catapulted Michael into the King of Pop.  Jones also produced music for  Donna Summer, Frank Sinatra, and Aretha Franklin, among others.

Quincy Jones' introduction to music

Quincy Jones was born on March 14, 1933, in Chicago to a half-caste father of a Welsh slave owner and a female slave. His mother also came from a slave background.

Jones' introduction to music came  from a piano played by a neighbour, which he started learning as early as age seven. He grew up in a musical family. He was greatly influenced by his mother, who was a singer and pianist. His father was a carpenter who doubled as a part time musician.  Jones showed his musical talent when he was very young; in his early teens, he learnt to play the trumpet.

When his parents divorced and he moved with his father to Washington State, he learnt drums and a host of brass instruments in his high school band. At 14, he started playing in a band with a 16-year-old Ray Charles in Seattle clubs, once in 1948, backing Billie Holiday.

He studied music at Seattle University, transferring east to continue in Boston, and then moved to New York after being rehired by the jazz bandleader Lionel Hampton, with whom he had toured as a high schooler. This gave Jones his first big break in the music industry. In the early 1950s, he moved to New York City to study at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music. It was there that he would meet and befriend other upcoming jazz musicians like Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughan.

After graduating from Juilliard, Jones got his big break when he was hired as the arranger and conductor for Count Basie's band in 1954. This allowed him to showcase his unique talents for writing complex arrangements that blended musical genres. He would go on tours with Basie for several years all around the world. By the late 1950s, Jones had made a name for himself as one of the top composers and producers in the entertainment industry.

Early productions

Some of Jones' earliest productions included albums by Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and later Frank Sinatra. He had an incredible knack for bringing together diverse talents and making innovative musical collaborations. In the 1960s, Jones produced some of Miles Davis' most groundbreaking albums, including "Birth of the Cool," "Sketches of Spain," and "Kind of Blue." These jazz albums from that era would influence multiple generations of musicians.

Jones had also begun branching out into film and television scoring. Some of his earliest film scores included the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "In the Heat of the Night" as well as "The Pawnbroker," starring Sidney Poitier. His soundtrack for "In the Heat of the Night" would win him his first Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1967. By this time, Quincy Jones had solidified himself as one of Hollywood's leading producers and arrangers.

Jones starts  "Qwest Records"

In the 1970s, Jones started his own record label called "Qwest Records" which aimed to spotlight new jazz and R&B talent. He produced hits for artists like Chaka Khan and Linda Clifford, as well as pop singer Dude Browne. Jones also worked on the soundtrack for the smash hit film "The Wiz," which brought together stars Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. The success of "The Wiz" opened up even more doors for opportunities in the entertainment industry.

The late 1970s and 1980s proved to be Jones' most commercially successful period yet. He produced Michael Jackson's groundbreaking albums "Off the Wall" and "Thriller," both of which went on to become some of the best-selling albums of all time. Other major productions during this time included albums by Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, and Dinah Washington. "Thriller" in particular has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, cementing Michael Jackson's status as the "King of Pop." The success of Jackson's albums established Jones as both a legendary producer and a shrewd businessman in the music industry.

Film Industry 

Quincy Jones is also an accomplished film composer, having scored over 30 films. Some of his most famous film scores include "The Colour urple,"  "In the Line of Fire", "The Five Heartbeats," and theme songs for the 1984 and 1986 World Cups. His film themes, especially those from the 70s and 80s era, are considered instantly recognizable classics today. In 1993, Jones arranged and conducted "We Are The World", a charity song to aid Ethiopian famine relief efforts. It brought together top American pop artists of the era and raised over $63 million for famine relief.

Outside of music, Quincy Jones has also shown great business acumen. He has invested wisely in various industries including stocks, real estate, restaurants, and telecommunications. His illustrious career has spanned over six decades in the entertainment industry as a composer, producer, conductor, arranger, and trumpeter. Jones is also an advocate for diversity and civil rights. For his legacy of influential work, he has been awarded nearly 70 honorary doctorates and received every major musical award possible, including 28 Grammys. In 1993, the city of Chicago gave Jones its first 'Quincy Jones Avenue'.

Early on in his career, there were some challenges. Jones had to deal with racism in the music industry and its effects as a black artist trying to succeed against the odds. Additionally, in 2002 Jones was sued by Michael Jackson in a financial dispute over royalty rights and fees from his productions. The lawsuit was settled out of court without further action taken. However, his successes far outweighed these controversies, and he has become a symbol of black excellence as well as a true legend in music history.

Quincy Jones has been an inspiration to younger generations of artists and producers. He used his platform to advocate on issues like criminal justice, education, and equality. Having worked with some of the greatest talents of the last century, Jones leaves a legacy of fusing together genres and pushing creative boundaries. It is hard to find any modern artist today that has not in some way been influenced by Quincy Jones. He is truly a musical icon, and his immense contributions to jazz, film, and pop music leave an irreplaceable mark that will endure for generations to come.

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