linguae 9 days ago | next |

As a jazz aficionado, I am very familiar with Quincy Jones’ immense contributions to music. I am a very big fan of the albums he produced, such as “The Dude” and “Back on the Block.”

What is less well known is Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing. At one point he was on the advisory committee for the ACM Computers in Entertainment Magazine (https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/973801.973803), and if I remember correctly, he was on the board of former Xerox PARC researcher Alan Kay’s Viewpoints Research Institute. I’ve been wanting to know more about Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing since I first learned about this a few years ago.

Rest in peace. Quincy Jones is a legendary figure.

jancsika 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

> What is less well known is Quincy Jones’ involvement with computing.

Also, he worked on debt forgiveness in African countries.

Also, he studied music composition with Nadia Boulanger (who taught Aaron Copland and many other classical composers) and studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen.

Also, he wrote the television theme song to Red Foxx's "Sanford and Son," plus a lot of other popular themes.

In fact, every time someone is about to get killed in Kill Bill[1], you hear a sample of music written by Quincy Jones.

1: except for Bill.

racl101 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

The funniest use of Ironside theme (Kill Bill excerpt), I've seen, was a video on YouTube about Han Solo when Leia tells him that Luke is her brother (in ROJ) and he has this crazy realization when they kiss in Empire.

oldgradstudent 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

He also wrote the memorable Soul Bossa Nova used in Austin Powers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FF258xH5bNw

The video is not authentic, but it should have been.

aithrowawaycomm 8 days ago | root | parent | prev | next |

Here is a cool video of Herbie Hancock explaining his synthesizer / recording computer setup to Jones: https://old.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/sswplq/herbi...

smcnally 8 days ago | root | parent |

Amazing to watch Herbie Hancock approach the synth / sampler keys as its own instrument distinct from piano or rhodes or clav. He’s very comfortable with the stylus and touchscreen ui, too. They fit snugly into his workflow to where it feels like he helped develop them. Any videos on that? I’ll review the old Rock School videos from this same period. Quincy Jones is so lucky his dad took him to see Mr. Hancock.

aithrowawaycomm 8 days ago | root | parent |

I couldn't find any information - I think the instrument there is a Fairlight CMI, which Peter Gabriel actually helped develop. But considering how prominent Hancock was in electronic music it wouldn't surprise me if this was built custom. OTOH Hancock likes computers in general so maybe he's just a nerd :) https://old.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/120mqfs/herb...

Bonus cute video of Hancock showing the Fairlight off on Sesame Street: https://youtube.com/watch?v=daLceM3qZmI

seanhunter 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

A friend of mine met Herbie on a Buddhist summer camp. She said he's an incredibly nice, humble guy as you would sort of imagine, he introduced himself to everyone as "Hi I'm Herbie, I'm a pianist". She didn't know anything about him so asked him what sort of music he played and he said she should listen to "Maiden Voyage". She became a jazz singer as a result.

TheOtherHobbes 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

The synth he's playing - making the synth brass sounds - is a Rhodes Chroma.

The Fairlight is being used as a drum machine. The Fairlight's keyboard controller is the one he points to at around 30s. The Fairlight's screen sequencer - called Page R - was easier than keyboard entry for drum and bass line programming.

I don't think Hancock did any development work or had any customisation done. (Except for the black case for the keyboard. Usually they were PC beige.)

It's fascinating this tech still has a legendary aura even though it's forty years old and has been completely outclassed by a cheap modern laptop and MIDI controller.

As for Quincy - a lot of people think talent is really just effort. But some people just have it - a deep instinctive feel for what they're doing - and he clearly did.

justin66 8 days ago | root | parent | prev | next |

> if I remember correctly, he was on the board of former Xerox PARC researcher Alan Kay’s Viewpoints Research Institute

Alan Kay knew him from before then. On Kay Savetz's podcast, one of Alan Kay's researchers at Atari (Donald Dixon) in the early eighties recounted meeting Quincy Jones when he was being shown around the lab.

https://youtu.be/q3cwZaofB68?t=1236

theGnuMe 8 days ago | root | parent | prev | next |

Wow! I too would like to know more about his involvement with computing. Anyone have any pointers?

chriscjcj 8 days ago | prev | next |

When I was four, I got a record player for Christmas. This one:

https://djcj.website/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/denim_turnta...

My mom had a copy of Ray Charles' greatest hits. My favorite song was One Mint Julep. Quincy Jones did the arrangement. You can see by the wear on this record how much I listened to that song, as well as "Unchain My Heart" and "Hit the Road Jack."

https://djcj.website/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/one-mint-jul...

So much great music. And when you watch interviews with other musicians with whom he crossed paths, they all talk about what an uplifting and positive influence he had on their lives.

Here's a interview with his longtime collaborator Tom Bähler. He has some really beautiful stories about his experiences with Quincy.

https://youtu.be/yIkP_XuIDeY?t=5197

And when he got together with Rod Temperton, the magic was next-level.

https://www.facebook.com/QuincyJones/posts/ill-never-forget-...

SoftTalker 8 days ago | root | parent |

Oh wow, I had that same Sears record player as a kid, not in denim mine had a vinyl covering. Flashback memories!

kranke155 8 days ago | prev | next |

*From a strictly musical perspective, what have you done that you’re most proud of?*

That anything I can feel, I can notate musically. Not many people can do that. I can make a band play like a singer sings. That’s what arranging is, and it’s a great gift. I wouldn’t trade it for shit.

https://www.vulture.com/article/quincy-jones-in-conversation...

hn_throwaway_99 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

I recently watched "The Greatest Night in Pop" about the "We Are The World" recording, and I came away with even more huge mad props for Quincy Jones. The ability to arrange all these superstar musicians with insanely different voices into one cohesive, melodic song is amazing. Not to mention that corralling all these diva personalities makes cat herding look like a cake walk.

giraffe_lady 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

What a fucking flex lol. I have rudimentary arranger skills, enough to understand the pain of simply not being capable of expressing something I can feel/hear internally. He really could do that on a level that very few people ever have been able to. Legend.

JohnBooty 8 days ago | root | parent | next | 

    What a fucking flex lol
I don't have a link handy but another hilarious thing to look up is Quincy talking about the Beatles' (lack of, in his opinion) chops

I love the Beatles but it's endlessly hilarious to me

tarkin2 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

I looked this up on YouTube. It seems a bit of a non-controversy with Quincy criticising Ringo's skills and Paul's bass playing. Comparing a virtuoso arranger and a band whose main strength was their song writing skills is a bit of a non starter honestly.

mixmastamyk 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

Every band improves over time as well and the Beatles hit pretty early. Without a time frame the comment is not that useful.

schainks 8 days ago | prev | next |

The Netflix documentary Quincy is an excellent watch, as Quincy takes you through all kinds of highlights and lowlights of his career and personal life (including his objectively bad dad skills).

My favorite two tidbits: - Sinatra single-handedly forced casinos in Vegas to treat black performers properly. He was Big Mad when he found out Quincy and the black band members were forced to sleep across town from The Sands. - Buzz Aldrin played Quincy's arrangement of "Fly Me to the Moon" on the moon!

RIP Quincy, thanks for "only" twelve notes ;)

pishpash 8 days ago | prev | next |

What is interesting is that, Joe Hisaishi is a pseudonym named after Quincy Jones.

As he became better known, Hisaishi formulated an alias inspired by American musician and composer Quincy Jones: "Quincy", pronounced "Kuinshī" in Japanese, can be written using the same kanji in "Hisaishi"; and "Joe" came from "Jones".[1]

久石譲 = Kyū Ishi Jō = Quincy Jones, as it were...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hisaishi

drooopy 9 days ago | prev | next |

Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad. What an incredible run for both Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson.

kevin_thibedeau 9 days ago | root | parent | next |

That was his middle stage career. Gems like 'Sinatra at the Sands' are worth a listen for his talented arrangements.

qsi 8 days ago | root | parent |

The "It Might As Well Be Swing" album by Frank Sinatra with the Count Basie band was my introduction to Quincy Jones, who did the arrangement. It is one of my favorite albums in Sinatra's discography.

agumonkey 8 days ago | root | parent | prev | next |

It's strange to realize how sophisticated "pop" music was at the time. Lots of beautiful harmonies, violins ..

treebeard901 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

I have been thinking about this some lately. The loss of complexity in main stream music. One of the most popular songs this year is just f# f# g ... f# ...

I am sure someone can figure out which song it is. While the music sounds great and sells, my theory is that it comes as a result of losing music classes in many public schools. Over decades it has led to a loss of complexity.

Then again, I am probably just old.

Ardon 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

I wonder which way the causal arrow goes? I'm confident more complex (and also excellent) music is being made now than ever before so it wouldn't be a supply problem. Could be a demand problem, or a transit problem, maybe.

It wouldn't be terribly surprising if it's the audience that has dragged things towards simplicity.

Could also be the homogenizing effect of recommendation algorithms that select for mass appeal, a song that everyone likes at an average of 7/10 is selected for way harder than a song that 50% of people like at an average of 9/10.

TheOtherHobbes 8 days ago | root | parent |

You really do need gatekeeping and curation in art. Otherwise it regresses to the mean - which is where the money is, but not the danger or surprise.

agumonkey 7 days ago | root | parent |

Fair point, and I'd add that there's a spot above the average where people used to flock to because it felt special and not just random average stuff. That's where society picked stars and new trends, something slightly special, complex, original yet not vulgar.

agumonkey 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

I wouldn't consider schools as a factor, my best guess was a harder industry that required people to know more theory before producing (except youth punk/rock..). Quincy jones had a long career in advanced genre, even bands like the police were trained on sophisticated music. It raised the entry bar higher overall.

wbl 7 days ago | root | parent |

Tarja Turunen could have been an excellent Wagnerian soprano but decided she liked heavy metal more. So even today there is quite a bit of musicianship in some pop genres.

giraffe_lady 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

I liked pop then and I like pop now, and I liked it the whole time in between, and I don't think you can say pop is less sophisticated now. The conventions of the genre have shifted because of communion with rock, hip hop and electronic dance music.

But violins are just an instrument, no more sophisticated or less than any other arrangement choice. Now the complexity is in the rhythmic interactions, and the timbral palette available to producers. The musicality of pop musicians and especially studio performers and producers is just unreal right now.

agumonkey 8 days ago | root | parent |

Link me some stuff worth listening too, I stopped scanning the recent music releases because most of it (except a few exceptions) felt like soup.

giraffe_lady 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

So, not all but quite a few "radio pop" artists actually have excellent studio albums, from which the radio singles are basically the worst songs. Like ariana grande had an incredible three-album run with dangerous woman, sweetener, thank u next. Dua Lipa's future nostalgia is another one of these, full of popified funk and dancehall grooves. Bass players love that album. So don't write off bad radio pop without giving the album a listen, there's quite a lot of good music hidden in plain sight.

Other than that some of my favorites from the last approximate decade in no particular order (in format: album - artist) are froot - marina and the diamonds; I feel alive - TOPS; shabrang - sevdaliza; unfortunately, terror jr - terror jr; take me apart - kelela; somewhere in between - verite; dogviolet - laurel; empathogen - willow; expectations - hayley kiyoko; once twice melody - beach house; the fool - ryn weaver.

Pop is hard to define as a genre, particularly it tends to blend into r&b and indie rock so some people might categorize some these differently. And most are "indie pop" but afaict that's just pop by non-famous musicians. That ryn weaver album is probably the best in the list, it's a monster masterpiece that deserves to be more widely known.

agumonkey 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

I'll take a peek, but i'm surprised, I stopped caring (pun slightly intended) about dua liap around future nostalgia. There's some nice bass in it but it's crude. The recent willow single was interesting that's true. Only people that manage to give me a sense of depth were thundercat/knower, benny sings

But I still miss some of the subtle harmonics from edits like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVhl896h2NI . There are other studio sessions with isolated vocals which afaik are not made this way anymore

ps: ryn makes good pop, colorful, but i don't know, maybe a different approach to voicings, it's missing something

psedit: fixed link

giraffe_lady 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

Yeah ryn's raw musicality is unreal but that album is underproduced and doesn't do her justice. I still think it's a masterpiece but the criticism is legit. I was really hoping to hear another from her but I'm not sure what it would be like now, the sound has changed a lot and I'm not sure what she's been up to.

If you like knower and thundercat there is a ton of great music that in that intersection of funk, pop, contemporary jazz. I was trying to stick to more "straight pop." Anyway with those guys I don't think the musicianship or sophistication is remotely in dispute.

dvirsky 8 days ago | root | parent | prev |

Dua Lipa has amazing arrangements for example.

There is a great podcast called Switched on Pop, which delves into music theory behind pop hits and their songwriting and arrangements, and analyzes them to show what makes them great. It will give you fresh perspective on how much thought and talent goes into some of these songs. https://switchedonpop.com/

swyx 7 days ago | root | parent |

Switched On Pop are the big dogs in this space but i'd love if anyone has lesser known musicologist pods to share that do similar things!

DonHopkins 8 days ago | root | parent | prev | next |

To be so supernaturally talented and skilled, but to also be big enough to concede when you're wrong and just shut up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean#Production

Jackson disagreed with the producer, Quincy Jones, about the song. According to some reports, Jones felt it was too weak to be included on Thriller, but Jones has denied this. Jones disliked the demo and did not care for the bassline, and wanted to cut Jackson's 29-second introduction. Jackson, however, insisted that it be kept. According to Jones, he conceded when Jackson said it made him want to dance: "And when Michael Jackson tells you, 'That's what makes me want to dance', well, the rest of us just have to shut up."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y

walthamstow 9 days ago | prev | next |

A true titan of all genres of popular music. The documentary made by his daughter Rashida Jones is very, very good. I'd recommend it to anyone.

teeray 9 days ago | root | parent |

> The documentary made by his daughter Rashida Jones

I just watched Parks and Rec for the first time last month and didn't make the connection that she is his daughter.

mastersummoner 9 days ago | root | parent | next |

If you ever listen to Rashida speak, she's one of the most incredibly eloquent people I've heard. Pipe dream for me to ever be as well-spoken as she is.

grugagag 8 days ago | prev | next |

Brilliant guy. Let’s hope we haven’t killed the elevator to climb those heights. We’re living strange times, currently it seems to me the age of great men is slowly fading only to be replaced mediocrity and simulacra. Of course I have no idea how it will all play out but hope for the best.

dk1138 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

Musically, he's done a lot to encourage and surround himself with brilliant younger artists. Jacob Collier had received tutelage and consult from Quincy and Jacob is a Mozart-level mind of our generation.

ethbr1 8 days ago | prev | next |

I had the honor of slipping in the back door of the GA Music Hall of Fame's 2006 induction as a then-gf's +1 on some 99X radio tickets she'd won.

Quincy Jones (and Russell Simmons) were there to induct Jermaine Dupri. https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/28th-annual-georgia-music...

Such an amazing guy, who'd done so much, and still obviously just loved the craft.

(Gregg Allman was also there, who passed in 2017, but at the time was still doing 6 hour live shows with new talent he wanted to introduce. Security guard when we showed up to his concert an hour late: "Naw, man, Gregg goes until 1 or 2am")

jakedata 8 days ago | prev | next |

He is a man who might be considered the musical godfather to perhaps millions of children throughout the years. He sure could set a mood.

WalterBright 8 days ago | prev | next |

I am forever grateful to QJ for his work on Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" album, one of the greatest albums ever. I still remember the first time I heard it at a party. OMG.

danielodievich 8 days ago | prev | next |

Quincy Jones went to Garfield High school in Seattle's Central District, I lived very close to it for a while. Garfield and nearby community are very proud of that. The city/school district did an amazing job rebuilding their performing arts center to the world standards as part of a comprehensive and expensive renovation back in 2008 https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2024/11/legacy-of-a-centr.... It is a lovely venue now, much appreciated by the local community. Quincy came back in 2022 for the 100 year anniversary of the school too, very lovely celebration.

shermantanktop 8 days ago | root | parent |

I went to Garfield. Quincy Jones got the auditorium named after him, well deserved.

Jimi Hendrix, on the other hand, got a small bust tucked into the back of the library, over the protests of various busybody types. Granted, he neither graduated nor celebrated his Garfield roots, but… come on.

_sys49152 8 days ago | prev | next |

Id go with "The Secret Garden" from 1989's Back on the Block Album if youre looking for something different. Quintessential 'quiet storm' track.

smortaz 8 days ago | prev | next |

my favorite story about quincy is that at as a 22 year old he was selected as the music arranger for dizzy gillespie’s band, and they all went to iran and gave a series of concerts. around 1954. RIP.

lproven 9 days ago | prev | next |

I loved this interview, when he was 84 and clearly DGAF any more.

https://www.gq.com/story/quincy-jones-has-a-story

ansc 8 days ago | root | parent |

He really was a gem. Here's my favorite interview of all time with the same vibe: https://www.vulture.com/article/quincy-jones-in-conversation...

>Marlon Brandon used to go cha-cha dancing with us. He could dance his ass off. He was the most charming motherfucker you ever met. He’d fuck anything. Anything! He’d fuck a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.

>He slept with them? How do you know that?

>[Frowns.] Come on, man. He did not give a fuck! You like Brazilian music?

MaxPock 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

My favourite

What were your first impressions of the Beatles?

That they were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard.

And Ringo?

Don’t even talk about it. I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and RingoJones arranged a version of “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” for Starr’s 1970 solo debut album Sentimental Journey, which was produced by the Beatles’ frequent collaborator George Martin. The song, and album, are more than a bit gloopy. had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said, “Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.” So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, “George, can you play it back for me one more time?” So George did, and Ringo says, “That didn’t sound so bad.” And I said, “Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.” Great guy, though.

lproven 8 days ago | root | parent | prev | next |

You missed out the bit I liked:

> But you know who sings and plays just like Hendrix?

> Who?

> Paul Allen

[The Microsoft co-founder and multibillionaire has a collection of yachts and guitars to rival the world’s finest, both of which he apparently makes good use of...]

> Stop it. The Microsoft guy?

> Yeah, man. I went on a trip on his yacht, and he had David Crosby, Joe Walsh, Sean Lennon — all those crazy motherfuckers. Then on the last two days, Stevie Wonder came on with his band and made Paul come up and play with him — he’s good, man.

moomin 8 days ago | prev | next |

First African-American to be nominated for Best Song at the Oscars (not the first winner, that was Isaac Hayes for the obvious.) Guy who made Michael Jackson and Will Smith megastars. And a LOT more. He was one of the most talented people of his, or frankly any, generation.

wiz21c 8 days ago | prev | next |

soul bossa nova !

bewaretheirs 8 days ago | root | parent |

As performed on the David Letterman show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLQ7xYnyIBQ You can see a few shots of the Cuica -- the drum(!) that makes the high-pitched squeaky monkey noises.

And for fans of video game music: that song inspired this little bit from the 8-bit big band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6hJvSkVLXs

kridsdale3 8 days ago | root | parent |

Thank you! I collect variants of the Wii Shop song on various platforms, its one of my favorite songs from gaming and certainly my favorite dedicated-to-a-single-ui arrangements of music in software.

The Wii interface was a high watermark of style. Nintendo was clearly riding high aping aspects of Apple style in the 2000s but adding all the audio personality made it their own. Others were also invested in making something unique for the TV as an interface paradigm (Xbox 360 Blades, PS2/3 "orchestra" themes). Most of that has died away for practicality (and maybe accessibility) sake now, to flat boxes with minimal animation and no sound.

I looked it up, and all the Wii system audio was done by the same composer that did Pikmin, as well as dozens of other core (but secondary) Nintendo IP over the decades.

bewaretheirs 6 days ago | root | parent |

That's an oddly narrow focus!

Nintendo appears to make the musical elements of its work a priority and it's good to see it escaping the game console into live performance -- following in the footsteps of both show tunes and movie music..

sirolimus 8 days ago | prev |

Who is quincy jones?

boothby 8 days ago | root | parent | next |

It's funny, in high school, we attended assemblies in the Quincy Jones Auditorium. Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Lee attended the same high school, which we all knew, but Quincy Jones just didn't have the same name recognition. Despite his name being right in our faces so frequently.

Over the decades since I graduated, I've taken some time to learn about the incredible influence he's had on the arts. Just recently, I learned that an actor I've watched in a few shows, Rashida Jones, is his daughter.

To briefly answer your question, his occupation was producer, arranger, composer and songwriter. Such folks often don't get name recognition without extensive self-promotion. You might be familiar with his work, without learning his name because he wasn't on the headline. But his work went deeper than that -- he was a community builder; that's work which is hard to measure the value of: to anybody that doesn't post here... who is Paul Graham?

seanhunter 8 days ago | root | parent | prev | next |

He's the guy who produced this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPYSrcxhzY "Yah mo Be there" here because it's one of my favourites and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA (thriller-the best selling album of all time. Billie Jean etc. ALl Quincy. But he also did this https://song.link/i/1440842927 "Come fly with me" from "Sinatra at the Sands". Yes that arrangement was Quincy.

and this https://song.link/i/1440648907 "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to" Wait wut? Yes. Quincy.

and this https://song.link/i/1434895053 Dinah Washington. "Mad about the boy". Yup. Quincy

and "We are the world", and The brothers johnson and some stuff with Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughn and many many others. It's absolutely absurd that one person did that range of things.