November 4, 2024 • 23 mins
On today's podcast, we reflect on the life and legacy of music icon Quincy Jones.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is the Black Information Network Daily podcast, and I
am your host, RAMSI's jah And sometimes the amount of
stories that make their way to us means that we
simply can't cover everything that comes our way. But from
time to time, a story just stays with me and
I feel compelled to share it with you and give
you my thoughts. And now one more thing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
In nineteen seventy eight, a young musician, singer, songwriter and
actor from Gary, Indiana named Michael Jackson had an opportunity
to work with one of the greatest music composers, musicians,
(00:46):
and producers of our lifetime, incredibly in the argument for
the greatest of all time, the iconic Quincy Jones. They
work together on a reimagined version of The Wizard of
Oz called The Wiz. That's one of my first memories
(01:08):
of Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Following working on The Wiz,
they created one of the most incredible front to back
music projects that I've ever encountered. Michael Jackson's first solo
(01:30):
project with Quincy Jones. A lot of people make the
mistake of thinking it was his first solo project period,
but it was not. I think it might have been
the first off of Motown, but at least his first
solo project with Quincy Jones, and that was Off the
Wall and I think that debuted in nineteen seventy nine.
(01:56):
In nineteen eighty three, set out to my grandmother Irish Ford,
May she rest in Heaven in order to get me
prepared to watch Motown twenty five at just two years old.
She taught me how to drop a needle on a
piece of vinyl and that was the first time I
(02:20):
heard Michael Jackson sing to incredible Quincy Jones production the
album of the very same title, Off the Wall and
Burn This Disco Down was the song that I dropped
the needle on because I didn't know how to put
it at the beginning, if you will, and as you
(02:41):
can imagine, I sat there for hours, dropping the needle
wherever it would play music with no specific cadence, with
no specific song order, just picking it up and putting
it back down. I'm sure that drove her crazy, but
it started a musical journey for me, which resulted in
me then watching Motown twenty five, seeing Michael moonwalk for
(03:03):
the first time, and spending years trying to figure out
how that magical thing was even possible. As I got
older and I learned how to read. That album cover
was something that I was fascinated by. And not only
was his name listed as executive producer, but composer, writer
(03:24):
and producer on most of the songs on the album
as well. And his name was Quincy. My name is
Quintunn so the Q, as you can imagine, stood out.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
It matters.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Quincy had an incredible career. His work with Michael Jackson
broke records. So it's what gets the most highlights, the
most Grammys, the most album sold, and it was pop music.
But Quincy worked with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and many
of your favorite artists and favorite composers in ps borrowed
(04:01):
were inspired by, were motivated by, were introduced to the
idea that they loved music because of the magic that
Quincy Jones put together, whether it was being a conductor
and orchestrating a symphony, sitting at a soundboard as an engineer,
(04:24):
mixed a project for somebody that he was working with
his ear and his attention to detail, or like none other,
had an opportunity to shake his hand once and memorable
only because I got to shake his hand, not because
we had some incredible conversation or some incredible connection. But
you know, being in that proximity to him, in the
(04:45):
company of Stevie Wonder at the time, who I used
to have a pretty cool friendship with, it was really
really Yeah. I know that sounds crazy to say, but
I also met Prince with Stevie, which is an entirely
different story. But Quincy Jones was the architect of music
(05:06):
in general for me. Like I said, the first music
I ever heard and what to this day has remained
my favorite music. I know, Thriller was a more impactful
project globally at the time, the most albums sold ever
of any solo artist. I'm sure that record has been
(05:27):
broken and set again multiple times, and I think Thriller
has exited and entered that same discussion multiple times. But
Quincy kind of stretched the boundaries of what could be
done with popular music. I mean classical arrangements, jazz from
(05:47):
nineteen twenties era, you know, Harlem Renaissance and Herbie Hancock too. Again,
Michael Jackson, the king of pop. Frank Sinatra's voice e
sounds a little smoother over Quincy Jones production. So hearing
the news that Quincy is no longer with us feels personal.
(06:15):
Even though I don't know him, I still feel by
the connection through the music that there was some personal relationship,
connection and kinship through his entire life, and even from
a distance, got to admire and be inspired by him. So,
you know, my introduction to music again, the first music
(06:38):
I ever heard, the first memories of music that I
ever have, were created by Quincy Jones, and you know,
his partner in crime at that time, Michael Jackson. So yeah, man,
that the Quincy Jones news did not it did not
hit me. Matter of factly, I had to, you know,
stop what I was doing and take a second to reflect, like, wow, man,
(07:01):
it's to be alive long enough to have encountered him
back then and to now have to process the fact
that he's no longer here. It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Listening to you talk about this marvelous journey that is
your life and listening to articulate kind of your feelings
about things like this. I'm I'm so happy that I
(07:38):
get a chance to like witness it, and that we
get to record these these neat little moments in our
lives in this studio and today as we celebrate the
legacy of this icon. I'm honored to have you as
(08:00):
a person to kind of help me with my reflection
because oftentimes it feels like the way that you articulate things,
especially because a lot of it is so personal, it
kind of helps cement a moment in my life. So you,
(08:23):
our listener, are along for this ride. Once again. This
is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast. Now I'm your
host Rams's job and I am q Ward And today
we are going to remember the man known as Quincy
Delight Jones Junior. I'm going to share a bit from
his Wikipedia page. I think this will kind of help
(08:46):
us paint the picture for folks who may not be
intimately familiar with all of the accomplishments and you know,
everything that the man stood for and some of the
things that he stood against. Because you know, just kind
of been preparing for this show, I learned a lot myself. Now,
(09:08):
of course I didn't have the same you know connection.
I never was able to meet him. I you know,
I grew up in a house where you know, it
was only church music, and so we couldn't played that
in secular yeah, none of that no worldly music, right
and worldly Yeah, So you know I didn't get introduced
(09:30):
to to Quincy Jones until much later. But again, my
hope is that if you're a person like me who
has you know, come to this conversation a bit later,
you'll learn something the way that I did. So I'll
share again. Quincy Delight Jones Junior was born March fourteenth,
nineteen thirty three and transitioned November third, twenty twenty four.
He was an American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer.
(09:54):
His career spanned seventy years, with twenty eight Grammy Awards,
one out of Get This, eighty nominations, and he won
a Grammy Legend Award in nineteen ninety two.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He might have the most Grammy wins ever, I believe.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So it wouldn't surprise me. One bit and eighty nominations
over a career of seventy years, it's just mind blowing.
I think that just that alone speaks volumes to the
impact that he's had. But I'll share a bit more.
Jones came to prominence in the nineteen fifties as a
(10:30):
jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and
film scores. He moved easily between genres, producing pop hit
records for Leslie Gore in the early nineteen sixties, including
It's My Party, and serving as an arranger and conductor
for several collaborations between the jazz artists Frank Sinatra and
Count Basie. In nineteen sixty eight, Jones became the first
(10:51):
African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for
Best Original Song for the Eyes of Love from the
film Banning. Jones was also nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Original Score for his work on the nineteen
sixty seventh film In Cold Blood, making him the first
African American be nominated twice. In the same year, Jones
produced three of the most successful albums by pop star
(11:14):
Michael Jackson, Off the Wall of nineteen seventy nine, Thriller
of nineteen eighty two, and Bad of nineteen eighty seven.
In nineteen eighty five, Jones produced and conducted the charity
song We Are the World, which raised funds for victims
of famine in Ethiopia. Jones became the first African American
to be the musical director and conductor of the Academy
(11:36):
Awards in nineteen seventy one. It was the first African
American to receive the Academy's Gene Herschel Humanitarian Award in
nineteen ninety five. He is tied with sound designer Willie D.
Burton as the second most Oscar nominated African American, with
seven nominations each. Jones was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in the Ahmet Ertie This Is
(12:01):
a New Word for Me Award category. In twenty thirteen,
he was named one of the most influential Jazz musicians
of the twenty first century by Time. So just a
handful of his accomplishments, some of the other things that
I found fascinating, again in reviewing this is just kind
(12:21):
of his kind of his scrappy story. You know, none
of this stuff was handed to him. He did have
to work for it. He does come from a time
when the country was a very different country. And you know,
he was a man that followed his heart and followed
his passions and followed his talent where it would take him.
(12:43):
And I think that that'll be reflected and you know
some of you know, the remaining things we're going to
check out. So one of the things that stood out
to me, of course, is that his paternal grandmother was
an ex slave from Louisville, and then later on he
discovered his paternal grandfather was Welsh. So he has a
(13:05):
traditional African American story, you know, with those roots in
slavery and.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Uh part that they tried to whitewash and forget ever happened.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah. Yeah. And then of course the Welsh injection into
his bloodline, that likely came from the fact that his
grandmother was owned and powerless, and you know, there may
not have been love and romance in that story. It
might have been something that is a little bit more sinister. Yeah,
(13:40):
and that's you know, that's a part of part of
our story in this country. And I think that we're
still processing it. But I think that Quincy's you rise
to the top of you know, American culture shows that,
you know, he's one of the resils ones. Another part
(14:02):
of his story that I loved is that he introduced
himself to Ray Charles when he was like sixteen years
old at a club in Chicago's from the South side
of Chicago, so you know, he didn't come from you know,
he wasn't born in Los Angeles. You know, he actually
came from humble beginnings. He ended up getting a scholarship
(14:23):
to Seattle University back in nineteen fifty one. So again,
imagine the talent to get a scholarship in the fifties,
early fifties at that as a young black male. Another
thing that stood out to me is, you know, as
you mentioned, he produced you know, Michael Jackson's albums when
he was in his forties. You know, so the high
(14:43):
point of his career was sort of like the midpoint
of his life.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
And it could be argue, right, the high point of
his success successfaus at sixteen of you just to have
the confidence in the personal self efficacy to just walk
up on rape Charles at sixteen, you know, and to
then collaborate with him. You know, that's a that's a
magical decision to even make sure at sixteen, you know
(15:09):
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And you know, there's a part of his story where
he was you know, I believe he was playing trumpet
and what's now known the as the Ed Sullivan Theater.
So he was able to do some work with Elvis too,
And that's a name that I didn't expect to see
come up in his story. But yeah, you know, a
lot of times people, you know, they think their best
(15:33):
years are behind them, And I think that when you
look at Quincy Jones's success with Michael Jackson's albums in
the eighties and you look at his age, I think
that kind of invokes, you know, the knowledge that you know,
maybe your best days might be ahead to you know.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
And he never stopped rest sharing that gift, you know,
putting his hands at least on the Kendrick Lamars and
the Anderson Pacts of the world. Like he never really
a full in the background back seat, even if he
transitioned into film and television and scoring film and TV
instead of just producing, you know, for the music industry,
as you mentioned, being Oscar nominated as well. Yeah, he
(16:13):
made sure that he stayed close enough for us youngins to.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Get some of that get some of that essence. I'm
not mad at him. One of the things, of course,
that stood out to me that I was less aware
of is his activism. So I just kind of pulled
this straight off and I want to share this with you.
Jones's social activism began in the nineteen sixties with his
(16:40):
support of Martin Luther King Jr. Jones was one of
the founders of the Institute for Black American Music, whose
events aimed to raise enough funds for the creation of
a National Library of African American art and music. Jones
was also one of the founders of the Black Arts
Festival in his hometown Chicago. In the nineteen seventies, Jones
formed the Quincy Jones Work Shops, meeting at the Los
(17:01):
Angeles Landmark Variety Arts Center. The workshops educated and home
the skills of inner city youth and musicianship, acting, and songwriting.
He was the founder of the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation,
a nonprofit organization that build more than one hundred homes
in South Africa, which aims to connect youths with technology, education, culture,
and music. And I believe he did this with Bono
(17:23):
he too, So he actually like had other people, you know,
they're prominent individuals involved with his With his efforts there
and then Jones supported a number of other charities including
the NAACP, Glad Peace Games, amphar and the my Bach Foundation.
(17:44):
And you know, for folks that want to go and
check out his full you know, resume. Again, we just
kind of pulled this from Wikipedia because we wanted to,
you know, put something up to just kind of honor
it this moment. But his Wikipedia reads like a book,
as you can probably imagine, It's just exhaustive, and he's
had a life that is exceptionally full and full of success,
(18:07):
and each individual element on his biography and his story
is worthy of its own show. So we're just kind
of giving you a once over but hopefully conveying the
importance of you know, his life, and you know, he
(18:30):
lived to be ninety one. So this isn't really sad
as much as it is a moment of sobriety and
just kind of understanding what it is that we had
in celebrating that. You know, his life, of course, was
not without controversy. There was people that took issue with
(18:51):
his choice and partners. Tupac most notably disagreed with his
marriage to a white woman. I believe a few white
women he was married. He was married three times, so
I'm not sure exactly what his partners look like throughout
his life. But but you know, you know, people are people.
(19:14):
People you know make their own choices. He's a self
made man. He's done more good than bad in so
far as I can tell.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Obviously, his children are successful, most notably his daughter Rashida.
She's a very visible figure as well, and she's has
some of that activist spirit to her as well. And
I'm appreciative of anybody who takes their platform, takes their
success and stands on it and does their best to
bring a little bit of positivity to the rest of
(19:45):
the world, not just enrich their own journey. And again,
from where I sit, you know, any one of these
things would have been plenty, but the fact that they
all exist under the same under the same name, under
the same story, the same timeline, that feels special.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
And you know, it's interesting that you point out that
Tupac did publicly speak up with regard to Quincy Jones
and his choice of partner. His daughter, Rashida and Tupac
had a bit of a public feud briefly, but then
met in person, figured out squashed. It isn't the right
word because it wasn't beef. It was just kind of
(20:23):
like a came to an understanding, came to an understanding
and developed a very familiar relationship, as Tupac later dated
her sister. So I didn't want to leave that part
out because there was a happy ending there and not
just Rashida, but Quincy Speaks spoke very highly of Tupac posthumously.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yeah, And you know, it's interesting because right around that time,
there were a lot of people that were taking issue
with hip hop, and that were taking issue with Tupac
in particular because he was, you know, he's a revolutionary,
he's an activist. Again, I I love that, you know,
we love that around here. You know, get outside, get busy,
(21:05):
say something, make some noise, you know, let these people
know what's going on. And Tupac was that one. And
uh yeah, when when people were tearing him down, Quincy
Jones was one of those people that found a way
to lift him up. And he had every reason to
(21:25):
try to tear him down. You know, he had, you know,
his family had you know, that man was living his
life and he was from from where I sit. There
was no part of his story that was not black.
You know. So in any event, we just wanted to,
you know, honor this moment, have a have a conversation
(21:45):
where we reflected on the fact that we were fortunate
enough to live in the time of Quincy Jones. We
were fortunate enough to, at different points in our lives,
of course, become familiar with his contributions to the world world,
and those contributions have indeed enriched our journeys, not just
(22:06):
as individuals who enjoy music, but as professionals. You know,
we work in the broadcast space where obviously DJs and
work in the music space. Q was. You know, he
doesn't share this very often, but Q is an accomplished
songwriter in his own right. Hopefully I'm not putting too
much of your business out there.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
But I'm a songwriter. I don't know about accomplished.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Well, I think you're accomplished, and you know, people can
look it up if they so choose. But in any event,
you know, to be able to have a moment like
this where you're able to honor one of your heroes
and we are able to honor one of our collective heroes,
that feels very special. So with that we will say,
(22:47):
you know, rest in peace, Christ, rest and power. Yeah,
thank you for all that you've given us. We are
better for it, and you know, salute to you for
a life well lived. Of course, if we've left anything
out that needs to be mentioned, you know, this is
a conversation so you can reach out to us using
the red microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app.
(23:09):
Of course, you can reach me on all social media
at Ramsey's Job.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
I am Qward on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
And until we talk again, y'all peace. This has been
a production of the Black Information Network. Today's show is
produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share?
Use the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app.
While you're there, be sure to hit subscribing. Download all
of our episodes I'm your host Ramsey's Job on all
social media. Join us tomorrow as we share our news
(23:35):
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
Black Information Network Daily Podcast
This is the Black Information Network Daily podcast, and I
am your host, RAMSI's jah And sometimes the amount of
stories that make their way to us means that we
simply can't cover everything that comes our way. But from
time to time, a story just stays with me and
I feel compelled to share it with you and give
you my thoughts. And now one more thing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
In nineteen seventy eight, a young musician, singer, songwriter and
actor from Gary, Indiana named Michael Jackson had an opportunity
to work with one of the greatest music composers, musicians,
(00:46):
and producers of our lifetime, incredibly in the argument for
the greatest of all time, the iconic Quincy Jones. They
work together on a reimagined version of The Wizard of
Oz called The Wiz. That's one of my first memories
(01:08):
of Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Following working on The Wiz,
they created one of the most incredible front to back
music projects that I've ever encountered. Michael Jackson's first solo
(01:30):
project with Quincy Jones. A lot of people make the
mistake of thinking it was his first solo project period,
but it was not. I think it might have been
the first off of Motown, but at least his first
solo project with Quincy Jones, and that was Off the
Wall and I think that debuted in nineteen seventy nine.
(01:56):
In nineteen eighty three, set out to my grandmother Irish Ford,
May she rest in Heaven in order to get me
prepared to watch Motown twenty five at just two years old.
She taught me how to drop a needle on a
piece of vinyl and that was the first time I
(02:20):
heard Michael Jackson sing to incredible Quincy Jones production the
album of the very same title, Off the Wall and
Burn This Disco Down was the song that I dropped
the needle on because I didn't know how to put
it at the beginning, if you will, and as you
(02:41):
can imagine, I sat there for hours, dropping the needle
wherever it would play music with no specific cadence, with
no specific song order, just picking it up and putting
it back down. I'm sure that drove her crazy, but
it started a musical journey for me, which resulted in
me then watching Motown twenty five, seeing Michael moonwalk for
(03:03):
the first time, and spending years trying to figure out
how that magical thing was even possible. As I got
older and I learned how to read. That album cover
was something that I was fascinated by. And not only
was his name listed as executive producer, but composer, writer
(03:24):
and producer on most of the songs on the album
as well. And his name was Quincy. My name is
Quintunn so the Q, as you can imagine, stood out.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
It matters.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Quincy had an incredible career. His work with Michael Jackson
broke records. So it's what gets the most highlights, the
most Grammys, the most album sold, and it was pop music.
But Quincy worked with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and many
of your favorite artists and favorite composers in ps borrowed
(04:01):
were inspired by, were motivated by, were introduced to the
idea that they loved music because of the magic that
Quincy Jones put together, whether it was being a conductor
and orchestrating a symphony, sitting at a soundboard as an engineer,
(04:24):
mixed a project for somebody that he was working with
his ear and his attention to detail, or like none other,
had an opportunity to shake his hand once and memorable
only because I got to shake his hand, not because
we had some incredible conversation or some incredible connection. But
you know, being in that proximity to him, in the
(04:45):
company of Stevie Wonder at the time, who I used
to have a pretty cool friendship with, it was really
really Yeah. I know that sounds crazy to say, but
I also met Prince with Stevie, which is an entirely
different story. But Quincy Jones was the architect of music
(05:06):
in general for me. Like I said, the first music
I ever heard and what to this day has remained
my favorite music. I know, Thriller was a more impactful
project globally at the time, the most albums sold ever
of any solo artist. I'm sure that record has been
(05:27):
broken and set again multiple times, and I think Thriller
has exited and entered that same discussion multiple times. But
Quincy kind of stretched the boundaries of what could be
done with popular music. I mean classical arrangements, jazz from
(05:47):
nineteen twenties era, you know, Harlem Renaissance and Herbie Hancock too. Again,
Michael Jackson, the king of pop. Frank Sinatra's voice e
sounds a little smoother over Quincy Jones production. So hearing
the news that Quincy is no longer with us feels personal.
(06:15):
Even though I don't know him, I still feel by
the connection through the music that there was some personal relationship,
connection and kinship through his entire life, and even from
a distance, got to admire and be inspired by him. So,
you know, my introduction to music again, the first music
(06:38):
I ever heard, the first memories of music that I
ever have, were created by Quincy Jones, and you know,
his partner in crime at that time, Michael Jackson. So yeah, man,
that the Quincy Jones news did not it did not
hit me. Matter of factly, I had to, you know,
stop what I was doing and take a second to reflect, like, wow, man,
(07:01):
it's to be alive long enough to have encountered him
back then and to now have to process the fact
that he's no longer here. It's a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Listening to you talk about this marvelous journey that is
your life and listening to articulate kind of your feelings
about things like this. I'm I'm so happy that I
(07:38):
get a chance to like witness it, and that we
get to record these these neat little moments in our
lives in this studio and today as we celebrate the
legacy of this icon. I'm honored to have you as
(08:00):
a person to kind of help me with my reflection
because oftentimes it feels like the way that you articulate things,
especially because a lot of it is so personal, it
kind of helps cement a moment in my life. So you,
(08:23):
our listener, are along for this ride. Once again. This
is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast. Now I'm your
host Rams's job and I am q Ward And today
we are going to remember the man known as Quincy
Delight Jones Junior. I'm going to share a bit from
his Wikipedia page. I think this will kind of help
(08:46):
us paint the picture for folks who may not be
intimately familiar with all of the accomplishments and you know,
everything that the man stood for and some of the
things that he stood against. Because you know, just kind
of been preparing for this show, I learned a lot myself. Now,
(09:08):
of course I didn't have the same you know connection.
I never was able to meet him. I you know,
I grew up in a house where you know, it
was only church music, and so we couldn't played that
in secular yeah, none of that no worldly music, right
and worldly Yeah, So you know I didn't get introduced
(09:30):
to to Quincy Jones until much later. But again, my
hope is that if you're a person like me who
has you know, come to this conversation a bit later,
you'll learn something the way that I did. So I'll
share again. Quincy Delight Jones Junior was born March fourteenth,
nineteen thirty three and transitioned November third, twenty twenty four.
He was an American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and producer.
(09:54):
His career spanned seventy years, with twenty eight Grammy Awards,
one out of Get This, eighty nominations, and he won
a Grammy Legend Award in nineteen ninety two.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He might have the most Grammy wins ever, I believe.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So it wouldn't surprise me. One bit and eighty nominations
over a career of seventy years, it's just mind blowing.
I think that just that alone speaks volumes to the
impact that he's had. But I'll share a bit more.
Jones came to prominence in the nineteen fifties as a
(10:30):
jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and
film scores. He moved easily between genres, producing pop hit
records for Leslie Gore in the early nineteen sixties, including
It's My Party, and serving as an arranger and conductor
for several collaborations between the jazz artists Frank Sinatra and
Count Basie. In nineteen sixty eight, Jones became the first
(10:51):
African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for
Best Original Song for the Eyes of Love from the
film Banning. Jones was also nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Original Score for his work on the nineteen
sixty seventh film In Cold Blood, making him the first
African American be nominated twice. In the same year, Jones
produced three of the most successful albums by pop star
(11:14):
Michael Jackson, Off the Wall of nineteen seventy nine, Thriller
of nineteen eighty two, and Bad of nineteen eighty seven.
In nineteen eighty five, Jones produced and conducted the charity
song We Are the World, which raised funds for victims
of famine in Ethiopia. Jones became the first African American
to be the musical director and conductor of the Academy
(11:36):
Awards in nineteen seventy one. It was the first African
American to receive the Academy's Gene Herschel Humanitarian Award in
nineteen ninety five. He is tied with sound designer Willie D.
Burton as the second most Oscar nominated African American, with
seven nominations each. Jones was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in the Ahmet Ertie This Is
(12:01):
a New Word for Me Award category. In twenty thirteen,
he was named one of the most influential Jazz musicians
of the twenty first century by Time. So just a
handful of his accomplishments, some of the other things that
I found fascinating, again in reviewing this is just kind
(12:21):
of his kind of his scrappy story. You know, none
of this stuff was handed to him. He did have
to work for it. He does come from a time
when the country was a very different country. And you know,
he was a man that followed his heart and followed
his passions and followed his talent where it would take him.
(12:43):
And I think that that'll be reflected and you know
some of you know, the remaining things we're going to
check out. So one of the things that stood out
to me, of course, is that his paternal grandmother was
an ex slave from Louisville, and then later on he
discovered his paternal grandfather was Welsh. So he has a
(13:05):
traditional African American story, you know, with those roots in
slavery and.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Uh part that they tried to whitewash and forget ever happened.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah. Yeah. And then of course the Welsh injection into
his bloodline, that likely came from the fact that his
grandmother was owned and powerless, and you know, there may
not have been love and romance in that story. It
might have been something that is a little bit more sinister. Yeah,
(13:40):
and that's you know, that's a part of part of
our story in this country. And I think that we're
still processing it. But I think that Quincy's you rise
to the top of you know, American culture shows that,
you know, he's one of the resils ones. Another part
(14:02):
of his story that I loved is that he introduced
himself to Ray Charles when he was like sixteen years
old at a club in Chicago's from the South side
of Chicago, so you know, he didn't come from you know,
he wasn't born in Los Angeles. You know, he actually
came from humble beginnings. He ended up getting a scholarship
(14:23):
to Seattle University back in nineteen fifty one. So again,
imagine the talent to get a scholarship in the fifties,
early fifties at that as a young black male. Another
thing that stood out to me is, you know, as
you mentioned, he produced you know, Michael Jackson's albums when
he was in his forties. You know, so the high
(14:43):
point of his career was sort of like the midpoint
of his life.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
And it could be argue, right, the high point of
his success successfaus at sixteen of you just to have
the confidence in the personal self efficacy to just walk
up on rape Charles at sixteen, you know, and to
then collaborate with him. You know, that's a that's a
magical decision to even make sure at sixteen, you know
(15:09):
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And you know, there's a part of his story where
he was you know, I believe he was playing trumpet
and what's now known the as the Ed Sullivan Theater.
So he was able to do some work with Elvis too,
And that's a name that I didn't expect to see
come up in his story. But yeah, you know, a
lot of times people, you know, they think their best
(15:33):
years are behind them, And I think that when you
look at Quincy Jones's success with Michael Jackson's albums in
the eighties and you look at his age, I think
that kind of invokes, you know, the knowledge that you know,
maybe your best days might be ahead to you know.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
And he never stopped rest sharing that gift, you know,
putting his hands at least on the Kendrick Lamars and
the Anderson Pacts of the world. Like he never really
a full in the background back seat, even if he
transitioned into film and television and scoring film and TV
instead of just producing, you know, for the music industry,
as you mentioned, being Oscar nominated as well. Yeah, he
(16:13):
made sure that he stayed close enough for us youngins to.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Get some of that get some of that essence. I'm
not mad at him. One of the things, of course,
that stood out to me that I was less aware
of is his activism. So I just kind of pulled
this straight off and I want to share this with you.
Jones's social activism began in the nineteen sixties with his
(16:40):
support of Martin Luther King Jr. Jones was one of
the founders of the Institute for Black American Music, whose
events aimed to raise enough funds for the creation of
a National Library of African American art and music. Jones
was also one of the founders of the Black Arts
Festival in his hometown Chicago. In the nineteen seventies, Jones
formed the Quincy Jones Work Shops, meeting at the Los
(17:01):
Angeles Landmark Variety Arts Center. The workshops educated and home
the skills of inner city youth and musicianship, acting, and songwriting.
He was the founder of the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation,
a nonprofit organization that build more than one hundred homes
in South Africa, which aims to connect youths with technology, education, culture,
and music. And I believe he did this with Bono
(17:23):
he too, So he actually like had other people, you know,
they're prominent individuals involved with his With his efforts there
and then Jones supported a number of other charities including
the NAACP, Glad Peace Games, amphar and the my Bach Foundation.
(17:44):
And you know, for folks that want to go and
check out his full you know, resume. Again, we just
kind of pulled this from Wikipedia because we wanted to,
you know, put something up to just kind of honor
it this moment. But his Wikipedia reads like a book,
as you can probably imagine, It's just exhaustive, and he's
had a life that is exceptionally full and full of success,
(18:07):
and each individual element on his biography and his story
is worthy of its own show. So we're just kind
of giving you a once over but hopefully conveying the
importance of you know, his life, and you know, he
(18:30):
lived to be ninety one. So this isn't really sad
as much as it is a moment of sobriety and
just kind of understanding what it is that we had
in celebrating that. You know, his life, of course, was
not without controversy. There was people that took issue with
(18:51):
his choice and partners. Tupac most notably disagreed with his
marriage to a white woman. I believe a few white
women he was married. He was married three times, so
I'm not sure exactly what his partners look like throughout
his life. But but you know, you know, people are people.
(19:14):
People you know make their own choices. He's a self
made man. He's done more good than bad in so
far as I can tell.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
You know.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Obviously, his children are successful, most notably his daughter Rashida.
She's a very visible figure as well, and she's has
some of that activist spirit to her as well. And
I'm appreciative of anybody who takes their platform, takes their
success and stands on it and does their best to
bring a little bit of positivity to the rest of
(19:45):
the world, not just enrich their own journey. And again,
from where I sit, you know, any one of these
things would have been plenty, but the fact that they
all exist under the same under the same name, under
the same story, the same timeline, that feels special.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
And you know, it's interesting that you point out that
Tupac did publicly speak up with regard to Quincy Jones
and his choice of partner. His daughter, Rashida and Tupac
had a bit of a public feud briefly, but then
met in person, figured out squashed. It isn't the right
word because it wasn't beef. It was just kind of
(20:23):
like a came to an understanding, came to an understanding
and developed a very familiar relationship, as Tupac later dated
her sister. So I didn't want to leave that part
out because there was a happy ending there and not
just Rashida, but Quincy Speaks spoke very highly of Tupac posthumously.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Yeah, And you know, it's interesting because right around that time,
there were a lot of people that were taking issue
with hip hop, and that were taking issue with Tupac
in particular because he was, you know, he's a revolutionary,
he's an activist. Again, I I love that, you know,
we love that around here. You know, get outside, get busy,
(21:05):
say something, make some noise, you know, let these people
know what's going on. And Tupac was that one. And
uh yeah, when when people were tearing him down, Quincy
Jones was one of those people that found a way
to lift him up. And he had every reason to
(21:25):
try to tear him down. You know, he had, you know,
his family had you know, that man was living his
life and he was from from where I sit. There
was no part of his story that was not black.
You know. So in any event, we just wanted to,
you know, honor this moment, have a have a conversation
(21:45):
where we reflected on the fact that we were fortunate
enough to live in the time of Quincy Jones. We
were fortunate enough to, at different points in our lives,
of course, become familiar with his contributions to the world world,
and those contributions have indeed enriched our journeys, not just
(22:06):
as individuals who enjoy music, but as professionals. You know,
we work in the broadcast space where obviously DJs and
work in the music space. Q was. You know, he
doesn't share this very often, but Q is an accomplished
songwriter in his own right. Hopefully I'm not putting too
much of your business out there.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
But I'm a songwriter. I don't know about accomplished.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Well, I think you're accomplished, and you know, people can
look it up if they so choose. But in any event,
you know, to be able to have a moment like
this where you're able to honor one of your heroes
and we are able to honor one of our collective heroes,
that feels very special. So with that we will say,
(22:47):
you know, rest in peace, Christ, rest and power. Yeah,
thank you for all that you've given us. We are
better for it, and you know, salute to you for
a life well lived. Of course, if we've left anything
out that needs to be mentioned, you know, this is
a conversation so you can reach out to us using
the red microphone talk back feature on the iHeartRadio app.
(23:09):
Of course, you can reach me on all social media
at Ramsey's Job.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
I am Qward on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
And until we talk again, y'all peace. This has been
a production of the Black Information Network. Today's show is
produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share?
Use the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app.
While you're there, be sure to hit subscribing. Download all
of our episodes I'm your host Ramsey's Job on all
social media. Join us tomorrow as we share our news
(23:35):
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
Black Information Network Daily Podcast
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