QUINCY JONES: THE PRODUCER'S PRODUCER
Quincy Jones has virtually achieved everything it is possible to achieve in the music world. Born in 1934, an early encounter with the teenaged Ray Charles impelled the youngster into Berklee School of Music from which he went directly to Europe and gained a formidable reputation as a player, arranger, and composer studying throughout six years with the classical theorist Nadia Boulanger.
QUINCY JONES: THE PRODUCER'S PRODUCER
CAROL COOPER
Quincy Jones has virtually achieved everything it is possible to achieve in the music world. Born in 1934, an early encounter with the teenaged Ray Charles impelled the youngster into Berklee School of Music from which he went directly to Europe and gained a formidable reputation as a player, arranger, and composer studying throughout six years with the classical theorist Nadia Boulanger. When he finally decided to return to the States in '61, his track record with French recording companies prompted the head of Mercury Records to appoint Jones as music director and later head of A&R for the company—a novel if not unheard-of position for a 27-year-old black man.
Quincy, now known by the sobriquet "Q," produced legends of every color and generic persuasion—Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Billy Eckstine, Ray Charles and Sarah Vaughn. He partook of the Brill Building girl group boom by producing numerous hit singles for Lesley Gore (including "It's My Party")—a nifty reversal of white producers crafting street sounds for the likes of the Crystals and the Ronettes.