FAREWELL QUINCY JONES

Quincy Jones (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024), a giant of the music industry, has left us. His career spanned seven decades, encompassing work with a veritable who’s-who of music, and (among numerous other accolades) garnered 28 Grammy awards out of a total of 80 nominations, plus a Grammy Legend Award.

Like Mingus, one of Jones’ most formative early gigs was as a member of Lionel Hampton’s orchestra, joining as a trumpeter just a few years after Mingus had concluded his tenure with the group. During their respective stints with Hampton, both began to find their voices as influential arrangers.

Several years later, in September 1956, Jones recorded This Is How I Feel About Jazz. It was his first full-length album as a leader, and he called upon Mingus to form the backbone of the rhythm section for four of the six tracks, “Evening in Paris,” “Sermonette,” “A Sleepin’ Bee,” and “Boo’s Blues.” Many of these featured Mingus as both a soloist and with intricate ensemble parts. It was to be the only in-studio meeting of the pair, but in 1962 Jones honored Mingus as a composer with the inclusion of “Boogie Stop Shuffle” on Jones’ landmark album Big Band Bossa Nova.

Quincy Jones was also famed for his riveting anecdotes. Selected below are a few Mingus-related highlights:

In a 2001 interview with Terry Gross for NPR’s Fresh Air, Jones described his experience with Lionel Hampton, highlighting Hampton’s “take no prisoners” approach to stagecraft:

https://www.npr.org/2013/05/27/186052477/quincy-jones-the-man-behind-the-music

In a 2018 interview with David Marchese for Vulture (New York magazine), Jones recounted his attendance of the 1953 Jazz at Massey Hall concert in Toronto:

http://web.archive.org/web/20241104184711/https://www.vulture.com/article/quincy-jones-in-conversation.html