RIP Quincy Jones

SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
A Titan has passed on.

Quincy was a figurehead in the black community, in the musical community, he had huge influence in the movie business. He spotted and encouraged talent that would end up becoming that generations top artists. He was a humanitarian and the world would not be the same without him.

In the music world, he became infamous as a producer, but before that, he was a very accomplished Jazz musician in his own right.

I would encourage anyone, no matter what your musical tastes are, get a copy of Frank Sinatra - Live At The Sands with the Count Basie Orchestra that Quincy produced and coordinated, and also Miles & Quincy Live At the Montreaux, which was a live show on July 8th 1991 he had tried to persuade Miles to do for years replaying some of his old hits from the 50's (Miles NEVER revisited old works), but due to Miles failing health due to addiction, he'd never been open to. This was Miles Davis last show and recording, he died 3 months later. Even though Miles was very much at deaths door by this point, it's still one of his stand out performances. It would never have happened if it wasn't for Quincy.

Of course there's his work with Michael Jacksons early solo albums, Thriller to this day being the biggest selling album in History, but a lot of people think Off The Wall (his first solo album) was his masterpiece and it’s about to get renewed interest as it’s being remastered as a premium box set released in January and I fully expect it will be in huge demand.

He produced the 11 times Oscar nominated film, The Colour Purple that only didn’t win because it highlighted the reality of race and of course, was responsible for The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air that gave Will Smith his start (which another studio had turned down): https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/2020/11/27/the-day-that-quincy-jones-changed-will-smiths-life/

But his accolades are far too many to adequately list, he was a truly monumental figure.

www.theguardian.com

Quincy Jones, producer and entertainment powerhouse, dies aged 91

Widely and wildly talented musician and industry mogul worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Will Smith and others
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

One of Vinyl Me Please first Anthology box sets was The Story Of Quincy Jones, these sets include major albums for their career but have an accompanying podcast and really thoughtfully produced booklet that takes you through each album, and the artists influences an history related to that timeframe.

It's one of the treasured pieces of my collection.

Scan from 2024-11-04 09_21_01 AM.jpg

Scan from 2024-11-04 09_21_35 AM.jpg
 
Last edited:
AccidentalDenz

AccidentalDenz

Lord of Steam
Legend is a word that is used way too often to describe people.

Quincy Jones very much is someone who I think legend does apply to, but given its overuse as a word, I'm more than happy to go with Spidey's suggestion of Titan.

Across a few music genres, his film scores, even his appearances in films, there can't be too many people out there who haven't felt his impact on popular culture. As far as cultural legacies go, his is flipping massive!
 
Tron1982

Tron1982

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
AccidentalDenz said:
Legend is a word that is used way too often to describe people.

Quincy Jones very much is someone who I think legend does apply to, but given its overuse as a word, I'm more than happy to go with Spidey's suggestion of Titan.
Click to expand...

True, but let's say that I still lack some vocabulary ^^"
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Tron1982 said:
True, but let's say that I still lack some vocabulary ^^"
Click to expand...
Even before he died he was a living legend, he did so much behind the scenes that very few were aware of, he did huge amounts of work for under privileged kids in US, taking them out to Africa to build houses for the local communities, accompanied with education. And it really worked too, kept them out of gangs and drugs and steered them towards jobs or school.

Everything about his life once he stepped away from being an artist himself was all about empowering others to be the best they could be.

If ever a person could believe in heaven on earth, it's with people like Quincy.

PS, the only reason I know about all this is because of the podcast that's a part of my Quincy box set, it goes deep into his charity work and the kind of person he was outside of being a producer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top