Quincy Jones
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The all-time most nominated Grammy artist, with a total of 76 nominations and 26 awards, Quincy Jones has also received an Emmy Award, seven Oscar nominations, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. An impresario in the broadest and most creative sense of the word, Quincy Jones career has encompassed the roles of composer, record producer, artist, film producer, arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, TV producer, record company executive, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur. Celebrating more than 50 years performing and being involved in music, Quincy's creative magic has spanned over six decades, beginning with the music of the post-swing era and continuing through today's high-technology, international multi-media hybrids. One of the albums he produced is Thriller which is still the biggest selling album of all time.
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[edit] About
Quincy Jones or "Quincy Delight Jones, Jr." or "Q" to his friends, was born on March 25, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois to Quincy Delight Jones Sr. and "Sara Jones". In 1943, their father, Quincy Sr. separated from his wife Sarah. Together with their father, Quincy and his brother moved to Sinclair Heights, Washington where they met their stepmother "Elvera". Quincy fell in love with music when he was in elementary school. At the age 11, Quincy, together with some partners in crime, broke into a record center, the Armory, where he discovered a piano. He played around with it, and was quickly fascinated with the possibilities music offered to him.
His father lost his job when Quincy was still 14 years old. They moved in Seattle where Quincy hung out at a local hook joint and secretly listened to the blues bands playing there. While barely in his teens, Quincy befriended a local singer-pianist, only three years his senior. His name was Ray Charles. The two youths formed a combo, eventually landing small club and wedding gigs. Quincy attended High School in James A. Garfield High School. There, he met a guy named, Charlie Taylor. The two decided to form a band called, "The Charlie Taylor Band". Soon, the boys were approached by a local lad named "Bumps Blackwell", who played vibes and had various businesses running. The band even had to backed Billie Holiday at a local venue.
After he graduated in high school, Quincy won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a year at Berkley, Quincy moved in New York City, where he found work as an arranger, writing charts for Count Basie, Cannonball Adderley, Tommy Dorsey, Dinah Washington and his old friend, Ray Charles. He also started to write music for himself and showed his first composition to members of "Lionel Hampton's band" who were passing through the city on tour. They were impressed and they immediately invite him to join the band. He played with them alongside jazz legends, Art Farmer and Clifford Brown.
In 1954, Quincy also arranged and produced a first album for Clifford Brown and Helen Merrill, followed by hundreds of jobs for arrangement work, jingles and recordings for various acts including Dinah Washington.
In 1956, soon after hooking up with the Homton's band, Quincy was once again a touring trumpeter, and this time a musical director for the "Dizzy Gillespie Band". After touring with the band to the Middle East and South America, he returned to the United States, where he landed a contract with ABC Paramount Records and led his own band. He also released his debut album that year.
In 1957, Quincy left Dizzy's group and was soon recruited as the musical director for Barclay Records where he produced and arranged sessions for "Jacques Brel" and "Charles Aznavour", as well as traveling American artists, including Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan. Quincy moved to Paris in that year where he studied composition with "Nadia Boulanger" and "Olivier Messiaen", and worked as a music director for Barclay Disques, Mercury Records' French distributor. In the end of 1958, Quincy decided to tour Europe with this newly formed ensemble, as the "Quincy Jones Band".
In 1961, he was named a vice president for Mercury Records, the first time an African-American had been hired as an upper-level executive by a major U.S. recording company. His productions were musically acclaimed, but at first failed to be successful in sales. His break came when he produced and arranged the hit single, "It's My Party of Lesley Gore. Quincy composed his first film score for "Sidney Lumet's controversial drama, "The Pawnbroker". During the preparation to The Pawnbroker soundtrack he was called again by Frank Sinatra, who asked him to come to Hawaii and conduct for his forthcoming album It Might as Well Be Swing, plus join him on forthcoming Las Vegas engagements.
The two parted ways in 1964. Quincy was hired by Warner Brothers to be one of their arranger and composer. He wrote with them twenty film and TV scores such as, "In Cold Blood" and "For Love of Ivy". This song earned him his Academy Award nominations and "In the Heat of the Night" which earned him his Grammy-nominations. While he maintained a busy schedule as a composer, producer, and arranger through the 60s, Quincy also released his solo album, Walking in Space in 1969.
In 1973, he enrolled n Black American Music Movement and performed shows with Stevie Wonder and The Supremes among others. He released his next solo album, Body Heat in 1974, which won him two Grammy’s. In the 80's, he also produced albums for, Brothers Johnson, Rufus, Chaka Khan and his own albums. Quincy Jones met the future King of Pop in 1978, when he composed the score for the film The Wiz, which starred Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Richard Pryor. His biggest break came when he worked with Michael Jackson and produced his album, Off The Wall in 1979. After that, he also produced the album of Donna Summer.
He also produced the movie soundtrack of the box office hit, "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial". He also had a time to produce the album of James Ingram. Michael and Quincy teamed up again in 1984 for the album, Thriller which became the biggest-selling album of all time. It also featured the single. "The Girl is Mine" which Quincy composed and duet by Michael and Paul McCartney.
Shortly after the successful launch of the Thriller album, his long time friend "Harry Belafonte" suggested to him to produce an album to the starving people of Africa. With further help of various friends, the U.S.A. for Africa project was founded and released the hit single, "We Are The World". After the recording of the said song, Quincy met Steven. His debut as a filmmaker occurred in 1985 when he co-produced Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple. The film won eleven Oscar nominations and introduced Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey to movie audiences.
In 1987, he again teamed up with, Michael and produced his next hit album, Bad. Another super talent had Jones to thank for his success is Will Smith. Quincy Jones was the producer for Smith's hugely successful TV series, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, from 1990 until 1996, in the days when the young rapper was merely known to audiences as The Fresh Prince rather than Hollywood actor Will Smith. In 1993, Quincy Jones and David Salzman staged the concert spectacular "An American Reunion" to celebrate the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.
Quincy Jones added the title “Best Selling Author” to his list of accomplishments when his autobiography “Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones” entered the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Sellers lists in 2001. In 2004, in front of an audience of more than 750,000 live spectators, Quincy Jones produced "We Are the Future" a live concert featuring Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Herbie Hancock, "Oprah Winfrey", "Angelina Jolie", "Kazem Al-Sahir", Andrea Bocelli, Norah Jones, "Evander Hollyfield", "Fher" (of Mana), and many others. In December of 2006, Harvard University named Quincy as the “2007 Mentor of the Year.”
The list of other artists Quincy has worked with are, Louis Armstrong, Patti Austin, Eddie Barclay, Tony Bennett, Bono, Brandy, Phil Collins, Heavy D., Miles Davis, Sammy Davis, Bob Dylan, Billy Eckstine, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Gloria Estefan, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, R. Kelly,Shaquille O'Neal, Little Richard, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Donna Summer, Ice T, Toots Thielemans, Tina Turner, Barry White and Stevie Wonder.
[edit] Awards (WON)
| Year | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Arrangement for "I Can't Stop Loving You" |
| 1969 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Large Group Or Soloist With Large Group for "Walking in Space" |
| 1971 | Grammy Awards | Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Smackwater Jack" |
| 1973 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Arrangement for "Summer in The City" |
| 1977 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for "Roots" |
| 1978 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Arrangement for "The Wiz Main Title - Overture Part One" |
| 1980 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Arrangement for "Dinorah Dinorah" |
| 1981 | Grammy Awards | Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group with Vocal for "The Dude" |
| 1981 | Grammy Awards | Best Cast Show Album for "Lena Horne - The Lady And Her Music, Live On Broadway" |
| 1981 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals for "Ai No Corrida" |
| 1981 | Grammy Awards | Producer of The Year |
| 1983 | Grammy Awards | Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical) |
| 1983 | Grammy Awards | Best Recording For Children for "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" |
| 1983 | Grammy Awards | Album of The Year for "Thriller" |
| 1983 | Grammy Awards | Record of The Year for "Beat It" |
| 1984 | Grammy Awards | Best Arrangement On An Instrumental for "Grace (Gymnastics Theme)" |
| 1985 | Grammy Awards | Best Music Video, Short Form for We Are The World - The Video Event |
| 1985 | Grammy Awards | Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "We Are The World" |
| 1985 | Grammy Awards | Record of The Year for "We Are The World" |
| 1986 | Women in Film Crystal Awards | Humanitarian Award |
| 1987 | ASCAP Award | Top Box Office Films for "The Color Purple " |
| 1990 | Grammy Awards | Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical) |
| 1990 | Grammy Awards | Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals for "The Places You Find Love" |
| 1990 | Grammy Awards | Best Arrangement On An Instrumental for "Birdland" |
| 1990 | Grammy Award | Best Jazz Fusion Performance for "Birdland" |
| 1990 | Grammy Awards | Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for "Back on the Block" |
| 1990 | Grammy Awards | Album Of The Year for "Back on the Block" |
| 1993 | Grammy Awards | Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance for "Miles And Quincy Live At Montreux" |
| 1994 | Royal Swedish Academy of Music Award | Polar Music Prize |
| 1996 | Image Awards | Special Awards |
| 1999 | PGA Oscar Micheaux Award | Oscar Micheaux Award |
| 2001 | Grammy Awards | Best Spoken Word Album for "Q - The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones" |
| 2007 | Ivor Norvello Awards | The Special International Award |
[edit] Awards (Nominated)
| Year | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Grammy Awards | Best Music, Original Song for "Banning" |
| 1968 | Grammy Awards | Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show for "In the Heat of the Night" |
| 1969 | Oscar Awards | Best Music, Original Song for "For Love of Ivy" |
| 1969 | Grammy Awards | Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show for "Mackenna's Gold" |
| 1970 | Grammy Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition - For a Series or a Single Program of a Series for "The Bill Cosby Show" |
| 1970 | Grammy Awards | Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show for "The Lost Man" |
| 1970 | Golden Globe | Best Original Song for "Cactus Flower" |
| 1970 | Golden Laurel | Music Man for "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" |
| 1972 | Golden Globe | Best Original Song for "Honky" |
| 1973 | Golden Globe | Best Original Score for "The Getaway" |
| 1973 | Grammy Awards | Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or TV Special for "$" |
| 1979 | Oscar Awards | Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score for "The Wiz" |
| 1986 | Oscar Awards | Best Music, Original Song for "The Color Purple" |
| 1986 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Original Score - Motion Picture for "The Color Purple" |
| 1995 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Informational Series for "The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 9" |
| 1996 | Emmy Awards | Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special for "The 68th Annual Academy Awards" |
[edit] Chart Toppers
[edit] News
[edit] Tours & Concerts
There are no current tour and concert schedules for Quincy Jones.
[edit] Announcements
There are no announcements as of this time
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
 1957 Jasmine |
 1957 Paramount |
 1959 Mercury |
 1959 Mercury |
 1960 Emarcy |
 1962 Mercury |
 1962 Phono |
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 1962 GRP |
 1963 Phono |
 1964 Mercury |
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 1965 Mercury |
 1965 Mercury |
 1966 Mercury |
 1969 Tsunami |
 1969 Paramount |
 1969 Uni |
 1969 A&M |
 1970 A&M |
 1971 A&M |
 1971 Reprise |
 1973 A&M |
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 1974 A&M |
 1975 A&M |
 1977 A&M |
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 1981 A&M |
 1989 Qwest |
 2000 Warner Bros. |
 January 13, 2004 Hip-O |
[edit] Singles
| Date | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Blues in The Night | Special Music |
| 1995 | You Put a Move on My Heart | Warner Bros. |
| 1996 | Stomp | Qwest |
| 1996 | Slow Jams | Warner Bros. |
[edit] Compilations & Live Releases
[edit] Other artists
[edit] Similar artists
[edit] Contemporaries
[edit] Influences
[edit] Trivia
- Quincy Jones is the most Grammy-nominated artist of all-time (with 79 nominations)
- Quincy produced the best-selling album of all-time (Michael Jackson’s Thriller)
- Quincy produced the best-selling single of all-time (We Are the World)
- Quincy has been awarded 27 Grammys, an Emmy (for his score on the miniseries Roots), an Oscar (in the form of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award), and produced a Tony-winning musical (The Color Purple – on Broadway).
- Quincy is a Commandeur of the Legion d' Honneur in France, he's received The Polar Music Prize from Sweden, the Rudolph Valentino Award from Italy, and the Kennedy Center Honors here in the United States among countless other awards and accolades throughout his career.
- In 1985, he co-produced Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple, which won eleven Oscar nominations, and introduced Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.
- Quincy Jones, is the Founder of VIBE Magazine and has published both SPIN and Blaze Magazines.
- Suffered a brain aneurysm in the 1970s. As a result, he can no longer play the trumpet; doing so could dislodge the chip in his brain.
- Godfather of singer Patti Austin.
- In 1996, she was by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.
- He appeared in the music video and was the conductor and producer of the song "We Are The World."
- Quincy Jones received the John F. Kennedy Center Honors in 2001. He also produced and directed the "We Are the World" video in 1985 after the American Music Awards show.
- In October of 2006, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad appointed Quincy Jones as the Artistic Adviser for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
