On Monday we lost Quincy Jones, one of the most talented and prolific musicians/arrangers/producers who has ever walked this planet. There's been no shortage of deserved platitudes coming from many folks with exponentially larger followings than us, but we felt in our own small way, he deserved a tribute for being a major contributor to the soundtracks of our lives, by doing a deeper dive into his discography.
We all know about Michael Jackson, and while one of my selections includes him, I wanted to do some Jim Ladd and go all over the place. To further add to the feeling of inadequacy for us musical mortals, I'll not only show the year of the release, but how old he was when he did it.
Here we go, in no particular order, with the occasional comment. I hope you enjoy some great music to help you ignore everything else that's going on right now.
The Wiz Soundtrack - Liberation Agitato - 1978 (45 years old)
The Wiz takes a lot of heat because it was a commercial failure, but it is an incredible production. I included this song mostly because not only does it highlight Jones's production chops, according to Bruce Swedien (another hero of ours), who became Quincy Jones's go to engineer, Jones, pulled an all nighter in a hotel to arrange it the day before rehearsal to record it, without a piano, after hanging out with Swedien and others, while Swedien kept nervously reminding him he should probably get to work. What you hear came out of Jones's brain and onto paper.
The Pawnbroker - Tony Bennett - 1966 (33 years old)
I included this to show Jones's range, because while he does not have a producer credit on this track, he wrote and arranged it. It's a beautiful song.
Give Me the Night - George Benson - 1980 (47 years old)
George Benson and Quincy Jones both made the leap from jazz to pop. Not sure if they just wanted bigger houses, but we're all better off for it.
The Brothers Johnson - Stomp! - 1980 - (47 years old)
It was a busy 1980, and while you can hear the different flair from the different artists back to back, you can definitely hear the Q influence.
New York City Blues - Sammy Davis Jr., Count Basie - 1965 (32 years old)
It blows my mind that a 32 year old Quincy Jones composed and produced a song for Sammy Davis Jr. and Count Basie.
And The Angels Sing - Terry Gibbs - 1963 (30 years old)
Back to his range. I'm fairly certain that there will never be another producer who will have the range to have credits on the equivalent to Jewish Melodies in Jazztime and Michael Jackson's Bad.
Desifinado - Dizzy Gillespie - 1962 (29 years old)
This is here to make us all feel inadequate because not only before he turned 30 was he producing for giants like Dizzy Gillespie, he'd already been touring with artists of that status for years.
Peace In The Valley (For Me) - Little Richard - 1961 (28 years old)
Let's feel even worse, he produced this beautiful, soulful song when he was 28.
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Nana Mouskouri - 1961 (28 years old)
I just really like this song.
Do You Love What You Feel - Rufus & Chaka Khan - 1979 (46 years old)
I was getting sleepy after Nana, needed to wake up with some incredibly complicated disco. I probably would have liked music theory more if I was made to analyze music like this. It's also interesting that as he got older, he got funkier. I am not getting funkier.
State of Independence - Donna Summer - 1982 (49 years old)
I included this because the credits are insane. It was composed by Vangelis, Jon Anderson (the guy from Yes), and Quincy Jones, and you can hear each of their influences in the production. You have the Vangelis synth thing going, the Jon Anderson prog lyrics, and a funky bass line dancing with the synth bass that is definitely not Jon or Vangelis. This is during the time when Vangelis and Jon Anderson were in the midst of their Jon & Vangelis collaboration and it does have the vibe of their other songs (example, check out I'll Find My Way Home). This song is definitely not a pop song, but it progresses as a good old school deep track should. It also gives you a hint of the Jones choir production on a song that the world would be singing in three years. Speaking of...
We Are The World - U.S.A. For Africa - 1985 (52 years old)
I highly recommend watching the Netflix documentary on this song. This song has kind of become a victim of its own success by becoming so big with such grand ambitions to become cliche, but forty years later, people are coming back around to the brilliance of the whole thing with a recognition that it did make an impact.
I could go on and on, and hopefully I started you down a rabbit hole of a career with incredible length and breadth. Even the term career seems inadequate.
Quincy Jones was a man who understood music and music theory as well as anyone, but also had pop sensibilities and could harness that knowledge to create music that was pleasant to listen to. I don't mean that as an indictment on any genre, but there's music that seems to be complicated for the sake of being complicated, and while I have no doubt Jones could do that if he wanted, he didn't. He had the uncanny ability to make complex stuff sound simple, and I'm not sure we'll ever see the likes of someone like him again.
Also, let's not forget about the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
