He was one of the greatest musical minds of the 20th century… and he hailed from Seattle.
Songwriter, composer, arranger and producer Quincy Jones, died yesterday at the age of 91.
The 28-time Grammy winner moved to the Pacific Northwest at the age of 10 and eventually graduated from Garfield High School.
Jones credited Seattle's musical openness with shaping his style. He met Ray Charles here. In a typical night, they would play across the city, from the tony Seattle Tennis Club to hangouts on Jackson Street, which was in the city's red light district, playing classical, jazz, marches, and pop music.
Jones played jazz trumpet.
Quincy Jones described his time in Seattle for PBS' “American Masters” in 2021:
"We had to play everything with school. We played Sousa. And you play classical music and Debussy… on the jobs… Ray Charles, we, played Debussey on some of the jobs and we had to play Big Fat Butterfly parody, a parody on a poor butterfly. We had to play absolutely everything."
That musical openness and genre defying attitude was a thread that he carried throughout his life.
In the 50's, Jones played with some of the jazz greats, including Herbie Mann, Zoot Sims, Hank Jones and Charles Mingus on Evening in Paris from his 1957 LP, “This Is How I Feel About Jazz."
A few years later Jones played with Ray Charles on "One Mint Julep."
But soon, Jones was branching out stylistically.
He left an indelible mark on the music industry through his film scores... And while Soul Bossa Nova wasn't specifically WRITTEN for Austin Powers, it certainly became known as the theme song for the "International Man of Mystery..."
He arranged songs for legends like Frank Sinatra.
And in the 70's, when funk was EVERYWHERE, Jones turned it into gold, including the track "The Streetbeater," which became the theme song to Sanford & Sons...
In the 80's Jones famously produced Michael Jackson's meteoric rise to stardom, with tracks like "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough."
He butted heads with Jackson on the opening to Billie Jean... (He thought it was too long, Jackson disagreed.)
And made the notorious phone call that got Eddie Van Halen in the studio to play guitar on "Beat It..."
Quincy Jones, a giant of American music, is one of few producers to have number one records in three consecutive decades, the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s...
Jones passed Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91.
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Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.
RELATED LINK:
Quincy Jones’s Legacy in 14 Essential Songs - New York Times
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