Quincy Jones gone at 91. Leaves behind a legacy of music.

I woke up this morning, came to work, turned on my computer and learned that Quincy Jones had passed away at the age of 91. And the first thing that popped into my mind was, “What a loss.” Quincy Jones started out as a cornet and trumpet player. Then become an arranger and composer, Music producer, TV And film Producer. 

I started listening to the music of Quincy Jones when I moved to Wenatchee and went to work for Belmont Music. I wound up running the stereo department and learning about jazz from the owner, Don Lanphere. (that's another story.) 

I wound up listening to all the Quincy Jones recordings I could find, and as the years went by, I wound up replacing many of those recordings, originally on vinyl with CDs. 

Quincy excelled as a composer and arranger, then as a producer. The most notable of his clients of course, being Michael Jackson. He also produced recordings by The Brothers Johnson, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Leslie Gore, Donny Hathaway, Frank Sinatra and many more. 

Quincy provided music for movies and television and then decided to get into the movie and TV business. 

There's a great story that I remember reading in an Eddie Van Halen interview in Guitar Player Magazine where Quincy Jones called him up and asked him if he could do a recording session. “Play a little rock guitar.” And he thought, why not So he threw his guitar in the back of his pickup truck, went down to the studio and it turned out it was for Michael Jackson; the song was beat it. Eddie plugged in his guitar and said, “OK, why don't you let me hear what it sounds like”, and when the solo section came up, he just kept playing. After that first run through, Eddie said “OK, I'm ready to do it” and Quincy said “no problem, we already got it. Thanks for coming by.” 

There are great stories about Quincy Jones that go through his entire life all the way back to when he started playing music in Seattle with Ray Charles up to just a few years ago. 

Will there ever be another musician, Composer, arranger, producer like Quincy Jones?  

My first reaction would be to say no.  

But after thinking about it, I can only hope that there will be. 

Quincy Jones, the legendary producer who worked with Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, has died aged 91
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