As a jazz aficionado, I am very familiar with Quincy Jones’ immense contributions to music. I am a very big fan of the albums he produced, such as “The Dude” and “Back on the Block.”
What is less well known is Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing. At one point he was on the advisory committee for the ACM Computers in Entertainment Magazine (https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/973801.973803), and if I remember correctly, he was on the board of former Xerox PARC researcher Alan Kay’s Viewpoints Research Institute. I’ve been wanting to know more about Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing since I first learned about this a few years ago.
Rest in peace. Quincy Jones is a legendary figure.
> What is less well known is Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing.
Also, he worked on debt forgiveness in African countries.
Also, he studied music composition with Nadia Boulanger (who taught Aaron Copland and many other classical composers) and studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen.
Also, he wrote the television theme song to Red Foxx's "Sanford and Son," plus a lot of other popular themes.
In fact, every time someone is about to get killed in Kill Bill[1], you hear a sample of music written by Quincy Jones.
The funniest use of Ironside theme (Kill Bill excerpt), I've seen, was a video on YouTube about Han Solo when Leia tells him that Luke is her brother (in ROJ) and he has this crazy realization when they kiss in Empire.
Amazing to watch Herbie Hancock approach the synth / sampler keys as its own instrument distinct from piano or rhodes or clav. He’s very comfortable with the stylus and touchscreen ui, too. They fit snugly into his workflow to where it feels like he helped develop them. Any videos on that? I’ll review the old Rock School videos from this same period. Quincy Jones is so lucky his dad took him to see Mr. Hancock.
> if I remember correctly, he was on the board of former Xerox PARC researcher Alan Kay’s Viewpoints Research Institute
Alan Kay knew him from before then. On Kay Savetz's podcast, one of Alan Kay's researchers at Atari (Donald Dixon) in the early eighties recounted meeting Quincy Jones when he was being shown around the lab.
My mom had a copy of Ray Charles' greatest hits. My favorite song was One Mint Julep. Quincy Jones did the arrangement. You can see by the wear on this record how much I listened to that song, as well as "Unchain My Heart" and "Hit the Road Jack."
So much great music. And when you watch interviews with other musicians with whom he crossed paths, they all talk about what an uplifting and positive influence he had on their lives.
Here's a interview with his longtime collaborator Tom Bähler. He has some really beautiful stories about his experiences with Quincy.
*From a strictly musical perspective, what have you done that you’re most proud of?*
That anything I can feel, I can notate musically. Not many people can do that. I can make a band play like a singer sings. That’s what arranging is, and it’s a great gift. I wouldn’t trade it for shit.
I recently watched "The Greatest Night in Pop" about the "We Are The World" recording, and I came away with even more huge mad props for Quincy Jones. The ability to arrange all these superstar musicians with insanely different voices into one cohesive, melodic song is amazing. Not to mention that corralling all these diva personalities makes cat herding look like a cake walk.
What a fucking flex lol. I have rudimentary arranger skills, enough to understand the pain of simply not being capable of expressing something I can feel/hear internally. He really could do that on a level that very few people ever have been able to. Legend.
The Netflix documentary Quincy is an excellent watch, as Quincy takes you through all kinds of highlights and lowlights of his career and personal life (including his objectively bad dad skills).
My favorite two tidbits:
- Sinatra single-handedly forced casinos in Vegas to treat black performers properly. He was Big Mad when he found out Quincy and the black band members were forced to sleep across town from The Sands.
- Buzz Aldrin played Quincy's arrangement of "Fly Me to the Moon" on the moon!
What is interesting is that, Joe Hisaishi is a pseudonym named after Quincy Jones.
As he became better known, Hisaishi formulated an alias inspired by American musician and composer Quincy Jones: "Quincy", pronounced "Kuinshī" in Japanese, can be written using the same kanji in "Hisaishi"; and "Joe" came from "Jones".[1]
The "It Might As Well Be Swing" album by Frank Sinatra with the Count Basie band was my introduction to Quincy Jones, who did the arrangement. It is one of my favorite albums in Sinatra's discography.
I have been thinking about this some lately. The loss of complexity in main stream music. One of the most popular songs this year is just f# f# g ... f# ...
I am sure someone can figure out which song it is. While the music sounds great and sells, my theory is that it comes as a result of losing music classes in many public schools. Over decades it has led to a loss of complexity.
I liked pop then and I like pop now, and I liked it the whole time in between, and I don't think you can say pop is less sophisticated now. The conventions of the genre have shifted because of communion with rock, hip hop and electronic dance music.
But violins are just an instrument, no more sophisticated or less than any other arrangement choice. Now the complexity is in the rhythmic interactions, and the timbral palette available to producers. The musicality of pop musicians and especially studio performers and producers is just unreal right now.
Jackson disagreed with the producer, Quincy Jones, about the song. According to some reports, Jones felt it was too weak to be included on Thriller, but Jones has denied this. Jones disliked the demo and did not care for the bassline, and wanted to cut Jackson's 29-second introduction. Jackson, however, insisted that it be kept. According to Jones, he conceded when Jackson said it made him want to dance: "And when Michael Jackson tells you, 'That's what makes me want to dance', well, the rest of us just have to shut up."
I still remember my first listen to Off The Wall and Thriller on headphones, Thriller being the ultimate experience. Collaborating with engineer Bruce Swedien, Jones produced a complicated topped-off waveform of a layered masterpiece in which you could hear every discrete vocal and instrument. It became the go-to technique of future generations.
If you ever listen to Rashida speak, she's one of the most incredibly eloquent people I've heard. Pipe dream for me to ever be as well-spoken as she is.
Brilliant guy. Let’s hope we haven’t killed the elevator to climb those heights. We’re living strange times, currently it seems to me the age of great men is slowly fading only to be replaced mediocrity and simulacra. Of course I have no idea how it will all play out but hope for the best.
Musically, he's done a lot to encourage and surround himself with brilliant younger artists. Jacob Collier had received tutelage and consult from Quincy and Jacob is a Mozart-level mind of our generation.
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What is less well known is Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing. At one point he was on the advisory committee for the ACM Computers in Entertainment Magazine (https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/973801.973803), and if I remember correctly, he was on the board of former Xerox PARC researcher Alan Kay’s Viewpoints Research Institute. I’ve been wanting to know more about Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing since I first learned about this a few years ago.
Rest in peace. Quincy Jones is a legendary figure.
Also, he worked on debt forgiveness in African countries.
Also, he studied music composition with Nadia Boulanger (who taught Aaron Copland and many other classical composers) and studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen.
Also, he wrote the television theme song to Red Foxx's "Sanford and Son," plus a lot of other popular themes.
In fact, every time someone is about to get killed in Kill Bill[1], you hear a sample of music written by Quincy Jones.
1: except for Bill.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=FF258xH5bNw
The video is not authentic, but it should have been.
Alan Kay knew him from before then. On Kay Savetz's podcast, one of Alan Kay's researchers at Atari (Donald Dixon) in the early eighties recounted meeting Quincy Jones when he was being shown around the lab.
https://youtu.be/q3cwZaofB68?t=1236
https://users.cs.duke.edu/~rodger/articles/AlanKay70thpoints...
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/973801.973815
https://djcj.website/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/denim_turnta...
My mom had a copy of Ray Charles' greatest hits. My favorite song was One Mint Julep. Quincy Jones did the arrangement. You can see by the wear on this record how much I listened to that song, as well as "Unchain My Heart" and "Hit the Road Jack."
https://djcj.website/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/one-mint-jul...
So much great music. And when you watch interviews with other musicians with whom he crossed paths, they all talk about what an uplifting and positive influence he had on their lives.
Here's a interview with his longtime collaborator Tom Bähler. He has some really beautiful stories about his experiences with Quincy.
https://youtu.be/yIkP_XuIDeY?t=5197
And when he got together with Rod Temperton, the magic was next-level.
https://www.facebook.com/QuincyJones/posts/ill-never-forget-...
That anything I can feel, I can notate musically. Not many people can do that. I can make a band play like a singer sings. That’s what arranging is, and it’s a great gift. I wouldn’t trade it for shit.
https://www.vulture.com/article/quincy-jones-in-conversation...
I love the Beatles but it's endlessly hilarious to me
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My favorite two tidbits: - Sinatra single-handedly forced casinos in Vegas to treat black performers properly. He was Big Mad when he found out Quincy and the black band members were forced to sleep across town from The Sands. - Buzz Aldrin played Quincy's arrangement of "Fly Me to the Moon" on the moon!
RIP Quincy, thanks for "only" twelve notes ;)
As he became better known, Hisaishi formulated an alias inspired by American musician and composer Quincy Jones: "Quincy", pronounced "Kuinshī" in Japanese, can be written using the same kanji in "Hisaishi"; and "Joe" came from "Jones".[1]
久石譲 = Kyū Ishi Jō = Quincy Jones, as it were...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hisaishi
I am sure someone can figure out which song it is. While the music sounds great and sells, my theory is that it comes as a result of losing music classes in many public schools. Over decades it has led to a loss of complexity.
Then again, I am probably just old.
But violins are just an instrument, no more sophisticated or less than any other arrangement choice. Now the complexity is in the rhythmic interactions, and the timbral palette available to producers. The musicality of pop musicians and especially studio performers and producers is just unreal right now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean#Production
Jackson disagreed with the producer, Quincy Jones, about the song. According to some reports, Jones felt it was too weak to be included on Thriller, but Jones has denied this. Jones disliked the demo and did not care for the bassline, and wanted to cut Jackson's 29-second introduction. Jackson, however, insisted that it be kept. According to Jones, he conceded when Jackson said it made him want to dance: "And when Michael Jackson tells you, 'That's what makes me want to dance', well, the rest of us just have to shut up."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y
https://www.mixonline.com/recording/mix-interview-quincy-jon...
I just watched Parks and Rec for the first time last month and didn't make the connection that she is his daughter.
I didn't connect John David Washington to Denzel until I looked him up.