You won’t have recognized it was him however with out query you will have heard Quincy Jones’s affect on most of the twentieth century’s largest pop hits.
As a music producer and multi-instrumentalist, he understood the craft of record-making intimately.
It was that deep understanding of music which meant he was able to transforming Fly Me To The Moon – taking it from Waltz to Swing for Frank Sinatra – simply as he helped the likes of Michael Jackson to search out his solo model, with pop masterpieces like Billie Jean.
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Quincy Jones, the music producer and composer, has died on the age of 91
There’s having connections throughout the music business, after which there are the 19 cell phones Jones’s safety guard apparently carried round for him.
Celebrities wished him to have their quantity – his musical approval mattered.
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(L-R) Dionne Warwick, Stevie Surprise, Jones, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in 1986. Pic: AP
In fact, having that information and common respect meant he might get away with saying greater than most.
Whereas many artists shrink back from the controversy that comes with having real opinions about others, Jones wasn’t one to self-censor.
Elvis, he claimed, was a racist that he would not work with.
The Beatles, he stated, had been “the worst musicians in the world”. (Though he later apologised to Sir Paul McCartney.)
No artist was above criticism, correctly.
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Jones with movie star Eddie Murphy in 1991. Pic: Reuters
In the course of the recording of We Are The World, as he wrangled the egos of 46 of the largest singers of all time, he apparently solely allowed Marvin Gaye and Stevie Surprise to contribute concepts.
He reportedly informed Jackson to “just do what you’re told.”
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Jones and Nastassja Kinski in 1993. Pic: Reuters
Jackson – and the music world at giant – listened as a result of Jones knew what he was speaking about.
His profession as a black music govt was pioneering. His deftness with music, and his capability to listen to how you can make an artist higher, means he leaves behind a legacy that may outlive us all.