Quincy Jones, jazz legend dies at 91…
Time to give this gem another listen …
Another accomplishment among many: recording the track that became the Austin Powers theme:
Wow, what a career he had. His production on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album made it a huge success.
He could really do it all. He even made simple Teen Pop like Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” something special. A brilliant man.
Arguably the most important person in modern music. He could make anybody of any genre sound better. His ability had no limitations. He took stars and took them to super-stardom.
Bummer. But the thread title needs to be more clear.
Odd… originally the title had a 
in it.
(a tad disrespectful i suppose)
I’ll flag it …
I’m of the Thriller gen and he’s well known for that but I wasn’t aware he also produced some of Sinatra’s biggest & lasting hits. A golden career.
A genius. Amazing how a composer could be at the vanguard of music for so many decades and reinvent himself so much.
Indeed, and who can forget the Self Preservation Society song (actually called Get a
Bloomin’ Move On !) …
I’m not, but I had never heard of Jones before that album. It was so brilliantly done, I was driven to see who was behind it.
He also believed in astrology and “knew” the Mob killed JFK.
But because of this thread, I have added Soul Bossa Nova to my collection.
RIP.
He was also the father of Rashida Jones. (Her mother was Peggy Lipton, who some people may remember from Twin Peaks or the Mod Squad.)
I thought he was going to live forever. RIP.
Jones went to the same high school as Jimi Hendrix.
I don’t know anything about the intricacies of music production, but I do have an idea of what kind of influence and respect someone must have to get more than 40 artists to work together on a project through the night and convince them to “check your egos at the door.”
Although I never worked professionally with Q, I did direct a vocal/dance group in Hollywood that included Jolie Jones, one of his (many) daughters. Q came to a group rehearsal once and I was honored to meet him.
Later, he used the lead sheets I created from Charlie Smalls’ crude demos to orchestrate the film version of The Wiz.
So I guess I have a tiny, inconsequential link to him – oh, almost forgot – years before all this I got an LP of a combo (“Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”). I think he was playing trumpet; the material was mostly Rock n Roll & R n B, but arranged in a very tasteful, jazzy style. One of my fave albums of the early Quincy era.
Many years ago (2008, which I only remember because Chris Matthews was the commencement speaker and he talked about the Clinton/Obama primary) I sang America the Beautiful for commencement at the University I teach for. Quincy Jones was getting an honorary doctorate.
He shook my hand and said “great job, man” coming out of the men’s room afterward. He did not offer me a recording contract.