When the world lost musician and record, film, and television producer Quincy Jones earlier this month at the age of 91, the ones who loved and worked with him felt his absence immediately.
Jones died on Nov. 4 at his Southern California home surrounded by his family.
“Tonight, with full broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones began his career as a trumpet player, creating music with his friend Ray Charles. He received a scholarship to Berklee but dropped out when he began touring with jazz singer Billie Holiday.
By the 70s, Jones became a top music producer, the first Black music director for the Academy Awards, and later received his first nomination for producing “The Color Purple.” His body of work continued in the studio with him producing Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” “Thriller,” and “Bad” albums. He later created his magazine “Vibe” in the 90s and introduced rapper Will Smith to his acting debut in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Atlanta native Teddy Astin was a promotions executive at Warner Brothers Records for over 20 years and had fond memories of working with him.
“There will never be another super producer like Quincy Jones,” Astin said. “There will never be a kinder gentleman you will ever meet in your life; you will never find another person who will be as kind and humble to the core. That’s just how he was.”
Others who worked with Jones, like jazz musician “Lil” John Roberts, reacted similarly to many of the people who worked with Jones in his 70-plus-year career. Roberts teaches percussion at the Berklee College of Music, where he and Jones studied.
“Extraordinary is the first word that came up in my thoughts of Quincy,” Roberts said in an interview. “There were so many different styles of music that he dibbled and dabbled so he’s the complete musician. He’s the complete musician slash producer slash humanitarian and the ultimate definition of cool.”
“He was a chameleon. He was the greatest definition of a chameleon, one who knew how to be in any situation and fit and find a way to get his ideas out of that situation and make it his own,” Roberts said.
Jones made history when he was in charge of producing “We Are the World” in 1985 to help support famine relief in Africa. Some of the biggest stars in music, like Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and many more, have lent their voices to a worthy cause. However, Jones made it clear that he was not going to take anyone’s attitude.
“No other producer could have ever imagined getting all of those superstars in the studio so he made a sign on the door that said ‘check your ego at the door,’” Astin said. “He told them to ‘don’t come in with all that,’ and they understood.”
Astin mentions his time working with Jones in his new book “A Golden Past-And-A Platinum Future.” He worked with some of music’s stars in their early careers including Prince, Morris Day and the Time, Miles Davis, Kevin Campbell and Jones.
When Jones learned of Astin’s retirement from Warner Brothers in the early 1990s, he called him and thanked him for helping him launch his record label, Qwest Records. He then invited him and his wife to meet him at his home in Jamaica to show his appreciation.
“That was an honor in itself,” Astin said. “It just goes to show that artists like Quincy Jones showed their appreciation.”
With Jones’s accomplishments in the entertainment industry, Roberts wants to preserve his legacy by teaching younger generations like his students.
“I think every school should have a curriculum that just studies Quincy Jones and his discography, his body of work. I think it’s the reason for having some type of curriculum about his legacy,” Roberts said. “We talk about Elvis Presley – and folks like that – who took a lot of ideas from the Black community, so talk about what actually did something from the ground up and didn’t steal it from anybody else.”
Aside from being a musical genius, Astin wants people to remember him as a person who wanted everyone to be kind to each other.
“His motto was love, laugh, live and give,” Astin said. “If everybody does that, they’ll always be okay.”
The post Atlantans reflect on relationship with Quincy Jones after death appeared first on SaportaReport.