IF THERE IS ONE PERSON WHO PERSONIFIES WHAT IS GOOD AND RIGHT ABOUT MUSIC, IT HAS TO BE QUINCY JONES. HE IS ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO HAS BEEN FAITHFUL TO PRESERVING AND PUSHING JAZZ FORWARD HIS ENTIRE CAREER. FROM HIS DAYS IN THE HORN SECTION OF CLIFFORD BROWN’S BIG BAND (DID ANYONE HERE KNOW THAT?!?) TO HIS OWN KILLER ALBUMS INCLUDING NEWPORT ’61 AND WALKING IN SPACE, HE’S ALWAYS KEPT THE PULSE OF JAZZ GROOVING FORWARD.
AS A PRODUCER, IS THERE ANYONE BETTER? HIS ALBUMS WITH FRANK SINATRA AND COUNT BASIE ARE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, WITH “LIVE AT THE SANDS” AN ABSOLUTE DESERT ISLAND DISC. AND THEN THERE ARE HIS JAUNTS INTO POP MUSIC, SUCH AS MICHAEL JACKSON’S “THRILLER” AND BEING IN THE STUDIO TO WORK ON THE PROTOTYPICAL RAP ALBUMS.
“Q” IS STILL ACTIVE THESE DAYS, WORKING AS A TALENT SCOUT AND PRODUCER FOR NASCENT JAZZ ARTISTS LIKE ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ, EMILY BEAR AND JUSTIN KAUFLIN. HE CONTINUES TO PROMOTE THESE ARTISTS, GOING TO THEIR LA CONCERTS TO GIVE THEM HIS SEAL OF APPROVAL, SHOWING THAT ONCE SOMEONE’S BEEN TOUCHED WITH A PATH, THERE’S NOT GIVING UP ON IT.
“Q” TOOK SOME TIME OUT OF HIS BUSY SCHEDULE TO HELP US UNDERSTAND HIS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
IN THE PAST FEW YEARS YOU HAVE BEEN ON THE SEARCH FOR YOUNG JAZZ TALENT. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO DO THIS?
I’ve always been on the search for young talents in jazz, but as a company we’ve somewhat recently started a management company because I wanted to be able to help some of these young artists establish careers. The management company started in 2006 at the Montreux Jazz Festival when Claude Nobs introduced me to Alfredo Rodriguez. I came back from the trip and told my team I wanted to work with him, but with the decline of record sales in full swing by then, my team decided to take Alfredo on as a management and publishing client, rather than sign him to a record deal.
DO YOU FIND THE ARTISTS, OR DO THEY FIND YOU?
For the most part, they find us. But every once in a while, we go out and pursue an artist – like we did with Jacob Collier after I saw his video cover of “Don’t You Worry About A Thing” or like I had my company do after I saw Alfredo Rodriguez for the first time at Claude’s house in Montreux.
WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN IN ARTISTS SUCH AS ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ, EMILY BEAR, JUSTIN KAUFLIN, ANDREAS VARADY AND JON BATISTE THAT GOT YOUR ATTENTION?
They are simply the best young talents in the world. They’ve mastered their craft and have earned their seat at the table.
WHAT PART DO YOU HAVE IN THEIR ALBUMS AND TOURING?
A lot. My team acts as management—interfacing with the labels, the agents, and using our own contacts and influence to help them get exposure, gigs, and fulfill their dreams. I’ve also been in the studio producing some of the artists, like Jason Gould’s debut record, Justin Kauflin’s record, and Alfredo Rodriguez’s new album, “Tocororo.”
YOU HAVE PLAYED ON AND PRODUCED SOME OF THE MOST ENJOYABLE JAZZ ALBUMS. YOU’VE EVEN HAD “HIT” ALBUMS LIKE WALKING IN SPACE
Thank you!
WHAT’S MISSING IN TODAY’S JAZZ THAT COULD MAKE IT MORE POPULAR?
Perspective. Robert Glasper, Jon Batiste, Kendrick Lamar, Alfredo Rodriguez, Jacob Collier and others are getting a perspective on what it takes to hit the new generation—the millennials. We’ve got to keep them (the young generation) engaged in real music. My team just showed me that one song from Alfredo’s album “Tocororo” (management note: the song “Venga La Esperanza”) that has more than 100,000 steams on Spotify—which I love to see. Those are young, tech-savvy Jazz fans who are appreciating instrumental music.
EVERY MUSICIAN I’VE INTERVIEW HAS TOLD ME THAT YOUR SESSIONS ARE ALWAYS THEIR FAVORITES. WHAT DO YOU DO TO MAKE AN ALBUM “WORK”?
I try to leave space for God to walk into the room.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT JAZZ/LIFE TOURING WITH DIZZY GILLESPIE?
Well, I can tell you a story that might help answer this question: when we visited Athens it was right after the kids had stoned the American Embassy and the American government said “Send the Gillespie Band– the Kamikaze Band over!” That’s how I learned power of music in diplomacy and peace. Obviously, I learned a lot more than just that from Dizzy, but that’s a good example.
YOUR DAYS WITH BASIE AND SINATRA ARE LEGENDARY!!! ANY RECOLLECTIONS TO SHARE? WHY DID THE ‘SANDS’ ALBUM WORK SO WELL? DID IT COME TOGETHER AS EASILY AS IT SOUNDS? WHAT MADE SINATRA SUCH A GREAT SINGER DURING THAT TIME PERIOD? DURING THIS RECORDING, DID HE GIVE YOU ANY ORDERS, OR VICE VERSA, OR FOR THE ‘MIGHT AS WELL’ SESSIONS?
Basie & Frank were people who knew what they were doing! They were also the baddest suckers in the world. We had Sweets Edison with us too. One of the great things about Sinatra’s voice was that he could emulate an instrument; that was his criteria back then—by the industry’s standards, you weren’t considered a real singer unless you could imitate a jazz saxophone player’s sound with your voice. That was the whole idea. Even Bessie Smith who had Coleman Hawkins as her background band. The most powerful guys in the world were working background for all these guys, you know?
Frank and I were always giving each other orders! But I would always give him my thoughts privately, never publicly. That’s the first thing you have to understand because if anybody confronted him in a group, he’d have to defend his position…If you jump into him in front of the band or anything like that, he’d get defensive. One good example was when he was creating nightly set lists (unlike Peggy Lee, who had to write down all fourteen numbers and then false vowels and two encores)- well Frank would come backstage with 3×5 cards. He’d put each one down in order. So, the final list he had for that show was supposed to open with “My Kinda Town” but I had written that so nobody could follow it! The reorchestration on that song… you see, we had to reorchestrate all that stuff with Basie… That was like…let’s “CLOSE IT DOWN” with that number! And he had that up at the front, so when we got back to our room, I said, “Francis, how about this…put ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ up at the front and put “My Kinda Town” at the end?” He said “coo coo kid, no problem!” There would be no argument if it was just you and him you know? But if you do it in front of others, you got a confrontation and other stuff to deal with. I understood that real quick. With some people, he’d be throwin’ those cherry bombs in the toilets and ice cubes on their bollocks…Basie said, “I don’t play that!” and Frank explained, “I wouldn’t do that to you guys! “He was an amazing man. Francis was just overall an amazing man.
WHO HAS BEEN THE EASIEST JAZZ ARTIST TO PRODUCE? WHY?
Shirley Horn, Sarah Vaughan, au revoir! Pure joy!
HOW ABOUT THE MOST DIFFICULT?
There was a specific female diva who was especially difficult and frankly, evil, but I don’t want to name any names. At the end of the day, a successful producer-artist relationship is about trust and love—and without those two things, a session will often fail.
WHEN DID YOU FEEL LIKE TELLING YOURSELF “I’VE ARRIVED”
All of it…When I first worked with Sinatra or Ray Charles or Billie Holiday or Hamp or when I had my first film, or my first pop hit with Lesley Gore….I mean that’s as good as it gets. The whole journey, you’re on the road to where you’re going, but you can’t think like that. You just take it one step at a time: ibu-ibu as they say in China!
YOU MUST SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE ALEXANDER THE GREAT, WITH NO MORE WORLDS TO CONQUER. WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO KEEP DOING YOUR WORK?
Don’t stop ‘til you get enough and don’t ever take your eye off the goal. Ever.
YOU PRODUCED MILES DAVIS’ LAST SESSIONS. (1992’S ‘MILES AND QUINCY AT MONTREUX’ WHERE DAVIS REVISITED HIS LANDMARK ALBUMS WITH GIL EVANS). DID YOU FEEL ANYTHING NOSTALGIC, SINCE THIS WAS ESSENTIALLY THE ONLY TIME IN HIS CAREER THAT HE LOOKED BACK IN RETROSPECT?
Convincing him to look back on his career was something I had to do carefully. Miles was a trip. I remember one time, we were negotiating with him to have him at our festival (the Montreux Jazz Festival). Claude and I were negotiating with him specifically to get all the stuff ready for 1991 and he was upstairs with Flava Flav followin’ up on Bitches Brew for his new album, and all of a sudden he comes down, walks past Peter Shukat (Claude’s attorney) and said “This sh*t’s going to be expensive” and I said
“What do you mean? We got the Gil Evans Big Band, Gil’s wife is bringing the band over, the son’s playing in it and we got the WDR band from Cologne, and everything else, so no problem.” And then he said “…no…. this sh*t’s hard to play!” Makes me laugh to think of it. He used to tell Claude all of the time, “Man don’t worry, keep the money for the concert, just get me a Ferrari! “ (Q laughing)…He was the biggest pimp (management note: used in a loving slang way) who ever lived and man and he knew how to do it too!”
YOU SAT IN THE TRUMPET SECTION WITH ART FARMER AND CLIFFORD BROWN BACK IN THE DAY. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE.?!?
And Benny Bailey; sh*t, don’t forget Benny Bailey!! It was like being in Heaven…B flat heaven 🙂
IN THE BIBLE, JUST BEFORE JOSHUA BROKE DOWN THE WALLS OF JERICHO, THERE WAS AN 80+ YEAR OLD FAITHFUL SERVANT NAMED CALEB. WHILE EVERYONE ELSE YOUNGER THAN HE WAS DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT FIGHT AND ENTER THE PROMISED LAND, THE SAGE STOOD IN FRONT OF EVERYONE AND SAID, “IF THE LORD DELIGHTS IN US…GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN.”
THIS IS THE STAGE THAT QUINCY JONES HAS REACHED. WHILE OTHERS CONTEMPLATE WHETHER TO SEIZE THE PROMISES OF GOD’S RICHES, JONES IS IN FRONT CALLING THE TIMID TO COME FORWARD WITH HIM. THIS JAZZ PROPHET HAS BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO 3 GENERATIONS, AND HE CONTINUES TO BE A BEACON OF THE RIGHT ROAD TO TRAVEL.
ONE OF JONES’ FINDS, ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ, IS COMING TO THE BLUE WHALE MAY 17. HEAD ON OVER AND FIND OUT WHAT JAZZ’S GREATEST CHEERLEADER SEES AND HEARS IN THIS ARTIST.