with a career spanning over 50 years
this musical genius shows no signs of
slowing down
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
taking a look at the life and career of
Quincy Jones
Quincy delight Jones jr. was born March
14 1933 in Chicago Illinois while
attending elementary school he began
playing the trumpet his family then
moved to Bremerton Washington where he
attended high school and gained further
musical instruction from arranger and
producer Robert Blackwell during the
1950’s Jones quit studying music at
college to play trumpet on popular
bandleader Lionel Hamptons tour
he then moved to New York City where he
became a freelance song arranger for his
friend Ray Charles and acts like Dinah
Washington Count Basie and Duke
Ellington following a tour as trumpeter
and musical director of the Dizzy
Gillespie Ben in the mid-1950s Jones
became the front man of his own jazz
band and began recording music for
abc-paramount records in 1956 he
released the first of his over 30 albums
this is how I feel about jazz the next
year Jones moved to Paris to study music
and soon became the music director of
French record distributor Berkeley discs
during the next years he toured North
America and Europe as part of the Jones
boys despite well reviewed performances
the 18 piece big band failed to make
ends meet and broke up Mercury Records
founder Urban Green helped Jones bounced
back by hiring him as musical director
for the labels New York division within
a few years
Jones advanced to vice-president and
became one of the first African
Americans to hold a senior management
job at such a predominantly white
business the 1960s saw Jones arrange
songs for some of music’s biggest stars
namely Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald
in 1962 Jones released his tenth album
big band bossa nova it featured the
popular tune soul bossa nova which has
since appeared in numerous multimedia
formats like the Austin Powers spy
comedy series and in rapper Ludacris
song number one spot Jones also began
focusing his attention on film scoring
his first major project was 1964 s the
pawnbroker the movie success allowed him
to leave Mercury Records and moved to
Los Angeles where he composed the music
for the drama the slender thread
Jones added more credits to his name
over the next years including walk don’t
run in the heat of the night in cold
blood and the Italian Job
notable later scores included the 1978
musical The Wiz starring Michael Jackson
and the 1985 Steven Spielberg directed
period drama the color purple despite
health problems Jones released six
albums that hit number one on the jazz
charts throughout the 1970s smack water
Jack you’ve got a bad girl body heat
mellow madness I heard that and sounds
and stuff like that one of Joan’s
crowning achievements was his three
album collaboration with pop icon
Michael Jackson and their first joint
venture happened at the end of that
decade 1979’s
off the wall sold over 20 million copies
and cemented Jones reputation as the
most powerful producer in music next up
was 1982 s history-making thriller which
sold an astounding 110 million copies
and remains the best-selling album of
all time their final collaboration was
1987 s bad which sold over 30 million
copies internationally with famine
ravaging Ethiopia during the mid-1980s
Jones helped put together the charity
single we are the world performed by a
group of artists dubbed USA for Africa
the songs roster included a who’s who of
the music industry the Platinum
certified single won several Grammys in
1986 over the years Jones has been
recognized frequently for his
contributions to music arts and
education
he is won over 20 Grammys out of his 70
plus nominations was the first African
American to be nominated for an Oscar
for Best Original Song and score and
holds multiple honorary degrees and
doctorates in addition to music Jones
became a passionate social activist with
his own entertainment company and
released an autobiography pioneer
innovator record breaker and
humanitarian are just a few words to
describe Quincy Jones who shows no signs
of stopping in his later years
with so much creative fuel driving them
forward
Jones musical ingenuity seems limitless
this musical genius shows no signs of
slowing down
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
taking a look at the life and career of
Quincy Jones
Quincy delight Jones jr. was born March
14 1933 in Chicago Illinois while
attending elementary school he began
playing the trumpet his family then
moved to Bremerton Washington where he
attended high school and gained further
musical instruction from arranger and
producer Robert Blackwell during the
1950’s Jones quit studying music at
college to play trumpet on popular
bandleader Lionel Hamptons tour
he then moved to New York City where he
became a freelance song arranger for his
friend Ray Charles and acts like Dinah
Washington Count Basie and Duke
Ellington following a tour as trumpeter
and musical director of the Dizzy
Gillespie Ben in the mid-1950s Jones
became the front man of his own jazz
band and began recording music for
abc-paramount records in 1956 he
released the first of his over 30 albums
this is how I feel about jazz the next
year Jones moved to Paris to study music
and soon became the music director of
French record distributor Berkeley discs
during the next years he toured North
America and Europe as part of the Jones
boys despite well reviewed performances
the 18 piece big band failed to make
ends meet and broke up Mercury Records
founder Urban Green helped Jones bounced
back by hiring him as musical director
for the labels New York division within
a few years
Jones advanced to vice-president and
became one of the first African
Americans to hold a senior management
job at such a predominantly white
business the 1960s saw Jones arrange
songs for some of music’s biggest stars
namely Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald
in 1962 Jones released his tenth album
big band bossa nova it featured the
popular tune soul bossa nova which has
since appeared in numerous multimedia
formats like the Austin Powers spy
comedy series and in rapper Ludacris
song number one spot Jones also began
focusing his attention on film scoring
his first major project was 1964 s the
pawnbroker the movie success allowed him
to leave Mercury Records and moved to
Los Angeles where he composed the music
for the drama the slender thread
Jones added more credits to his name
over the next years including walk don’t
run in the heat of the night in cold
blood and the Italian Job
notable later scores included the 1978
musical The Wiz starring Michael Jackson
and the 1985 Steven Spielberg directed
period drama the color purple despite
health problems Jones released six
albums that hit number one on the jazz
charts throughout the 1970s smack water
Jack you’ve got a bad girl body heat
mellow madness I heard that and sounds
and stuff like that one of Joan’s
crowning achievements was his three
album collaboration with pop icon
Michael Jackson and their first joint
venture happened at the end of that
decade 1979’s
off the wall sold over 20 million copies
and cemented Jones reputation as the
most powerful producer in music next up
was 1982 s history-making thriller which
sold an astounding 110 million copies
and remains the best-selling album of
all time their final collaboration was
1987 s bad which sold over 30 million
copies internationally with famine
ravaging Ethiopia during the mid-1980s
Jones helped put together the charity
single we are the world performed by a
group of artists dubbed USA for Africa
the songs roster included a who’s who of
the music industry the Platinum
certified single won several Grammys in
1986 over the years Jones has been
recognized frequently for his
contributions to music arts and
education
he is won over 20 Grammys out of his 70
plus nominations was the first African
American to be nominated for an Oscar
for Best Original Song and score and
holds multiple honorary degrees and
doctorates in addition to music Jones
became a passionate social activist with
his own entertainment company and
released an autobiography pioneer
innovator record breaker and
humanitarian are just a few words to
describe Quincy Jones who shows no signs
of stopping in his later years
with so much creative fuel driving them
forward
Jones musical ingenuity seems limitless
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