Musick that Needed Work - Q: Quincy Jones.

 

Musick that Needed Work has been a long running project around NSS. Musick that I stuck in a folder that needed future repair, that I'm trying to finish.  Finally getting to letter Q this month. I had this post ready for a bit later in the month, but with the passing yesterday of the 91 year old musickal legend, I felt it appropriate to post this today.

 

 

In a career spanning over seven decades, Quincy Jones has earned his reputation as a renaissance man of American music. Quince is a talented trumpet player, master arranger, & top-notch producer in rhythm & blues, soul, funk, big band, swing, bossa nova, jazz, hip hop, rock 'n' roll, pop, & disco. Although these days he may be best known for his soulful productions with artists such as Michael Jackson at the turn of the 1980s, this was just one peak of his long & varied career.

A gifted trumpet player by his teens, he won a scholarship to Schillinger House in Boston but left soon after when he was offered the job as a trumpet player with Lionel Hampton. It was with Hamp that Jones' skills for arranging came to prominence. Moving to New York, he became an arranger, working with artists such as Dinah Washington & Ray Charles. After touring with Dizzy Gillespie's band, he secured a deal with ABC-Paramount & shortly thereafter began leading his own band.

The two selections I have that needed work are as varied as the man's career. The first is 1975s Mellow Madness. This era of his journey saw Jones moving further towards jazz-funk. Hope you enjoy. 

 

Quincy Jones - Mellow Madness, A&M Records SP-4526, 1975.
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Side 1 -
Is it Love That We're Missin'
Paranoid
Mellow Madness
Beautiful Black Girl
Listen (What it Is)

Side 2 -
Just a Little Taste of Me
My Cherie Amour
Tryin' to Find Out About You
Cry Baby
Bluesette

 

 

 

Jumping ahead some 11 years, but still with A&M Records, this one is in a more downtempo, soul-jazz vein still flavored with discofied jazz-funk.

 

Quincy Jones - A&M Gold Series, A&M Records C28Y3065, 1986.

Side A -
Ironside (Theme from "Ironside" NBC-TV series)
Superstition
Manteca
Everything Must Change
Stuff like That

Side B -
What's Going On
Body Heat
Smack Water Jack
Killer Joe
Ai No Corrida

 

 

 

Enjoy,
NØ