Latest Release
- 6 NOV 2024
- 20 Songs
- Talkin' Verve: Quincy Jones · 1962
- Smokin' Jazz Vol. 02 · 1958
- Big Band Bossa Nova · 1962
- The Dude · 1981
- You've Got It Bad Girl · 1973
- The New Jack Swing Collection, Vol. 5 · 2014
- Walking In Space (2013 Remaster) · 1969
- The Best of Quincy Jones · 1982
- Back On the Block · 1989
Essential Albums
- When Quincy Jones made Walking in Space in 1969, he was just 10 years’ striking distance from producing Off the Wall and ushering Michael Jackson’s historic pop ascent. Already by then his reputation—indispensable arranger for Count Basie, Sinatra, Ray Charles and many more—was ironclad. He did superb, forward-thinking work as a leader, on 1959’s The Birth of a Band! and other releases, his ensembles thick with stone jazz legends. On Walking in Space, Jones entered the fusion era on his own terms, embracing the electric jazz of the day but applying essentially unchanged principles: Pick great songs; write deep, insightful, groove-rich arrangements; get phenomenal talents to bring them to life. It was the first of Q’s efforts for A&M, commercially aimed but artistically genuine—a Creed Taylor production, as was Gula Matari one year later. (Smackwater Jack from 1971 had Phil Ramone behind the boards.) With his finger uncannily on the pulse of jazz, soul and pop, Jones brought out the full epic goosebump potential of “Walking in Space” from Hair, enlisting Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson fame to bring it off. Just to name the album’s soloists is to conjure the sound of an epoch. There’s the effervescent flute of Hubert Laws and the bracing multi-sax work of the great Roland Kirk; the bluesy assurance of Eric Gale on guitar and the velvety, harmonically savvy Fender Rhodes of Bob James. There’s the sheer elegance and pathos of Toots Thielemans and Jerome Richardson, on harmonica and soprano sax respectively, rendering Johnny Mandel’s “I Never Told You”. Bassist Chuck Rainey and drummer Bernard Purdie crush the gospel finale “Oh Happy Day”, with a rapport they captured on record with everyone from Aretha Franklin to Steely Dan. And at the heart of it, in the conductor/arranger chair, was Jones guiding the way with his ear for texture and irresistible emotion.
Music Videos
- 2022
Artist Playlists
- Tracing the steps of jazz and pop's legendary mogul.
- Quincy Jones joins Pharrell to talk about his legendary career.
- The maestro who helped Michael Jackson find the groove.
- An icon’s classic ’70s soul—and cuts from artists he inspired.
- His credits cut across jazz, R&B and plenty of soundtrack work.
- When it came to jazz and pop, the arranger had a global ear.
Singles & EPs
Live Albums
Appears On
- Frank Sinatra with Quincy Jones and Orchestra
More To Hear
- Estelle plays hits by Quincy Jones.
- Quincy on his career and book 12 Notes: On Life and Creativity.
- Spinna celebrates the 40th anniversary of Quincy Jones' The Dude.'
- Q-Tip & Natasha Diggs end the summer with new and classic hits.
About Quincy Jones
Trumpet-blasting sideman to the stars. Frank Sinatra’s go-to arranger. Oscar-winning soundtrack composer. Entertainment-industry mogul. Celebrity activist. Perennial hitmaking pop producer. Across a uniquely varied, multidisciplinary career dating back to the early ’50s, Quincy Jones not only assumed countless roles, he set the gold standard for each. In the ’60s, the Chicago-born Jones’ bold, brassy arrangements exuded an uncanny mix of cocktail-clinking sophistication and in-your-face swagger, whether they were gussying up Sinatra’s historic set at the Sands, buoying Lesley Gore’s subversively empowering sad-girl anthem “It’s My Party”, or driving Jones’ own “Soul Bossa Nova” (aka the Austin Powers theme). Just as effortlessly, Jones imbued his score for the racially charged 1967 drama In the Heat of the Night with ominous symphonic soul, tapping into the dark undercurrents of an unsettled America and offering an implicit rumination on the Black experience that would be rendered more vividly through his funky ’70s recordings. (Those louche, smoky grooves, in turn, became the foundation for countless hip-hop classics.) But Jones’ Midas touch had never been more potent than on Michael Jackson’s game-changing 1982 LP, Thriller. Its fusion of taut, post-disco dance grooves, sharp R&B hooks and rock attitude redefined the sound and scope of the modern pop album—and cemented Jones’ status as the link between popular music’s jazzy big-band past and its studio-sculpted, club-hopping future. Jones passed away in November 2024 at age 91.
- BORN
- 1933
- GENRE
- Jazz