Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. ( born March 14, 1933, Chicago, Illinois) is an American music producer, composer, jazz trumpeter, arranger and bandleader.
Childhood and youth
Quincy Jones grew up in Bremerton on in the U.S. state of Washington, where he met as a teenager, Ray Charles, with whom he founded a small combo and pulled by the local jazz clubs of Seattle. At 17, he got a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. But in 1951 he gave up the studies, as Lionel Hampton hired him as a trumpeter for a tour.
Career
When Jones had earned the Orchestra of Lionel Hampton as an arranger spurs, he settled in New York, where he soon except for his childhood friend Ray Charles and arrangements for studio recordings by artists such as Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington and Gene Krupa wrote. Dizzy Gillespie signed him in 1956 as the orchestra conductor for a tour, which led, among other things, to the Middle East and South America. In 1957, he got a contract with ABC - Paramount, where he was the first own album, This Is How I Feel About Jazz publish.
Late as 1957 Jones went to Paris, where he deepened in Fontainebleau, among other things with Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory his musical studies. Now the same time he worked as a producer for the label Barclay Records, the French distributor of Mercury Records, where he was responsible, among other things, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour and Henri Salvador, but also produced recordings by Billy Eckstine abroad or Sarah Vaughan. He also went with various jazz bands on tour in Europe. In June 1958, he conducted the orchestra for a gala concert by Frank Sinatra in Monaco, it was the beginning of a long collaboration with the artist. 1959 and 1960 he was then with its own large-scale formation in Europe go.
Back in the USA Jones in 1961 vice-president of the New York division of Mercury Records and conductor of the A & R and 1964 vice-president of the label and becoming the first African American in the top management of major labels. In addition to jazz, he produced now pop. From 1963, he also composed successful film music. In the same year he won his first Grammy for the arrangement of I Can not Stop Loving You for the Count Basie Orchestra. In 1964, he led the orchestra ( and co-wrote with Billy Byers the arrangements ) for the second joint studio album It Might As Well Be Swing by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, on which there is also a legendary version of the song " Fly Me To The Moon" which was played at the moon landing in 1969. As an orchestral conductor, he went along with Sinatra and Basie in 1964 on a sprawling, almost two-year concert tour, which inter alia, the double live album Sinatra At The Sands was born ( 1966). 18 years later (1984 ) Sinatra played under Jones ' line a his last solo album, LA Is My Lady.
Jones was known mainly for his work as producer of Michael Jackson, whom he met in the late 1970s and for its successful albums ( Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad ), he served as a producer. The album Thriller is certified units with 104 million sold, the best-selling album of all time.
Jones also produced successful tracks with the artists Aretha Franklin, Little Richard and Herbie Hancock. In addition, he composed many other film scores before he moved from the mid- 1980s in Hollywood on producing. 1985 produced the Jones written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie Welthit We are the world, which earned 50 million U.S. dollars in favor of a relief fund for Africa. In the same year, the film of the novel was The Color Purple, for which he wrote the Oscar -nominated music. As a solid partner he had the sound engineer Bruce Swedien to the side, which helped to their distinctive sound in these and many other productions regularly especially the Michael Jackson albums.
1989 Jones produced the album Back on the Block, which contains, among other things, a cover version of Birdland, participated in the Ella Fitzgerald, George Benson and Joe Zawinul. The Grammy-winning disk are also Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Take 6, Sarah Vaughan to hear ( one of her last recordings ) and Ray Charles.
1990 saw the documentary " Listen Up - The Life of Quincy Jones " by Ellen white bread.
2008 Jones received the Jazz Masters Fellowship of the state NEA Foundation, the highest honor for a jazz musician in the United States.
Selection of albums, which were produced by Jones
Discography (selection)
Collections
- The Quincy Jones ABC / Mercury Big Band Jazz Sessions (1956-1964) - ( Mosaic - 2007) - 5 CDs with Art Farmer, Jimmy Cleveland, Gene Quill, Herbie Mann, Zoot Sims, Lucky Thompson, Jack Nimitz, Milt Jackson, Hank Jones, Charles Mingus, Charlie Persip, Phil Woods, Billy Taylor, Ernie Royal, Bernie Glow, Joe Wilder, Urbie Green, Frank Rehak, Jerome Richardson, Paul Chambers, Clark Terry, Joe Newman, Billy Byers, Melba Liston, Julius Watkins, Eric Dixon, Bobby Scott, Buddy Catlett, Stu Martin, Thad Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Snooky Young, Rod Levitt, Frank Wess, Oliver Nelson, Milt Hinton, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Buffington, Jimmy Johnson, Harry Sweets Edison, Budd Johnson, Sam " The Man" Taylor, Danny Bank, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Crawford, Osie Johnson, Sahib Shihab, Benny Golson, Sam Woodyard, Quentin Jackson, Les Spann, Ray Brown, Don Lamond, Jimmy Maxwell, Lee Morgan, Nick Travis, Lennie Johnson Porter Kilbert, Benny Bailey, Ake Persson, Joe Harris, Rolf Ericson, Paul Cohen, Britt Woodman, Art Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat Adderley, Jay Jay Johnson, Kai Winding, Jerry Dodgion, James Moody, Roland Kirk, Pepper Adams, Bob Cranshaw, Art Blakey
Film Music (Selection)
Awards
For his musical work Quincy Jones was nominated in 2010 for a Grammy 79 times - 27 times he was awarded the prize. 2005 saw its inclusion in the Dance Music Hall of Fame. In 1991 he received the honor of Rose Rose of Montreux. In 1995 he received an honorary Oscar (Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award ).