Legendary producer Quincy Jones dies at 91

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00:00Quincy Jones, the music producer extraordinaire, has died at the age of 91.

00:04A musician in his own right, Jones forged a reputation as the man who made the greats

00:08even greater. His musical mouse and acumen helped hone the talents of Michael Jackson,

00:13for instance, for his Thriller album in 1982 and even Frank Sinatra from 1958 onwards.

00:19Jones also had hits on the silver screen, notably The Color Purple, but also scored movies such as

00:25The Italian Job, The Porn Broker and In the Heat of the Night to name but three

00:30in a long, long, long list.

00:36Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon and Tina Turner.

00:42It was Quincy Jones who got them all in the same studio for this historic track,

00:47recorded to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia in 1985.

00:52The producer, composer and musician was also a friend to these, the biggest names in pop music.

00:59Born on Chicago's gritty South Side, the young Quincy Jones dreamed of being a gangster when

01:05he was older, but music stopped him in his tracks, starting with a neighbour's piano.

01:11He quickly moved on to the trumpet, playing big band jazz and embracing a new family of musicians.

01:18I didn't have a mother when I was young. My mother was put in a middle home

01:23when I was seven years old, but she had dementia precox.

01:27And I've said if I don't have a mother, I'll let music be my mother.

01:33Frank Sinatra gave him the surname Q after working together,

01:37then Jones made a name for himself with his Latino-style jazz.

01:42A detour through Bossa Nova, on his way to revolutionise disco and funk.

01:52The success of the Brothers Johnson in the 70s saw Jones hone his craft as a hit maker.

02:11At the middle and the end of the 1970s, Quincy Jones left the world of pure jazz

02:20and opened up to more mainstream material, more pop and funk. And that's how he started

02:25working with Rufus, the Brothers Johnson, George Benson and of course Michael Jackson.

02:32Blown away by his precocious talent, Quincy Jones encouraged the singer to break away

02:38from the Jackson 5 and develop the sound that saw Michael Jackson crowned king of pop.

02:44And Jones himself became a superstar producer.

02:49It's definitely thanks to Michael Jackson that he became the king of funk.

02:53Their collaboration was so notorious, so visible in the albums Off the Wall, Thriller, All Bad.

03:00The arranger and composer also worked with French talents,

03:04Henri Salvador, Nana Mouskouri and Charles Aznavour,

03:08more recently lending his touch to the songs of jazz singer Zaz.

03:23There was so much joy in the studio, it was almost childlike. In fact, I think Quincy is a big kid.

03:30He's always having fun, he has this great energy,

03:33he's always looking to share things, to do stuff together, to make music.

03:39300 albums, 2,900 songs and 28 Grammy Awards,

03:44Quincy Jones' signature is all over modern music, be it pop, funk or jazz.

03:50Quincy Jones, the life, the legend. Let's bring in Mark Rotso from Vanity Fair Magazine,

03:54where he is the contributing editor, to give us more on the man who is Quincy Jones.

04:00The music, he said, was his mother. What a remarkable man. What are your thoughts at his passing?

04:07Well, one thought that I have instantly in the passing of Quincy Jones,

04:12who really is a true titan of music and the entertainment industry,

04:17going back amazingly to the mid-20th century now,

04:22is that there's a truism that everybody knows the name of Quincy Jones,

04:27but maybe they don't exactly know what Quincy Jones did. I think the reason for that is that

04:33for decade after decade after decade, Quincy Jones was everything, everywhere, all the time,

04:40and so it was impossible to pin down. He was so many things. He was a producer, he was a composer,

04:47he was an arranger, he was a mentor to so many musicians, he was an impresario,

04:53he founded a magazine called Vibe, he was a record label executive. In fact, he was the very first

05:01black vice president of a white-owned record label, that being Mercury Records, that goes back

05:06to the 1960s. And, you know, he's the father of celebrity children, most notably Rashida Jones,

05:12the quite brilliant actor, producer, and director. So, in some ways, the Jones family

05:18is something of a modern-day American entertainment dynasty. So, Quincy Jones was typically

05:26not the guy who was center stage in the spotlight, but he shaped so much of what contemporary music

05:32has been for decades, and had a hand in shaping the trajectories of, you know, genres like jazz,

05:41R&B, pop, easy listening, and the careers of some true titans of recorded music, including, of

05:47course, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Michael Jackson. As you've given us your insight, Mark,

05:53we're seeing him hugging Snoop Dogg. You've mentioned just two other people that he worked

05:58with who are absolute giants of music. And like you say, Quincy Jones, always there or thereabouts,

06:04the kind of, that little sort of like secret ingredient that makes it all come together.

06:08Yeah, secret ingredient is a great way of putting it. You know, Quincy Jones is also a very

06:13accomplished home cook. He said that, you know, he made a gumbo that would make you want to slap

06:18your grandmother. And similarly, in the studio, he worked a certain magic with like, you know,

06:24putting a dash of this, a dash of that, the right amount of spice, the right amount of heat,

06:30the right amount of sweetness, to create, you know, a feast for the ears really, in record

06:39after record after record. It's, you know, I'm practically speechless at how incredible the

06:45career of Quincy Jones is and how the music that he made or helped to make has touched so many

06:52people who listen to so many different kinds of music, as you point out, all over the world.

06:57My own daughter studies jazz. She's a singer. She has extolled how wonderful Quincy Jones is.

07:03There you go, evidence that, you know, another generation influenced by him. Who was the star,

07:08do you think, who he most helped to hone the talent, you know, sort of really sort of fine tune?

07:15That's, wow, that's really hard to say. I mean, it's really hard to say.

07:20I, there are two, the two, the two big artists that he worked with, and it would be hard to

07:26take away anything from them as artists as much as Quincy Jones is obviously a brilliant producer and

07:34really so talented at getting performance out of the artists and giving them the right framework

07:41in order to express themselves. But of course, the big relationships are with Frank Sinatra,

07:45which, as you mentioned, went back to 1958 and extended until Frank Sinatra's death in 1998.

07:52For Quincy Jones, Sinatra was this larger life character, the greatest jazz singer,

07:57an impeccable musician, a fabulous human. I mean, their bond was almost instant and it was enduring.

08:05And Quincy Jones liked to say that he always kept Frank Sinatra's ring on his finger,

08:10a ring that Frank Sinatra gave him. And, you know, it's quite possible that Quincy Jones,

08:18you know, left this world with Frank Sinatra's ring on his finger. So strong was their connection

08:24musically and personally. And then there's Michael Jackson, who, you know, Quincy Jones made that trio

08:31of albums off the wall, Thriller and Bad, that cemented Michael Jackson as the reigning pop

08:37superstar of the 1980s and really made his reputation. That relationship was a lot trickier

08:44than the one with Sinatra insofar as eventually Quincy Jones came to sue Michael Jackson for

08:52$9.4 million in unpaid royalties. And Quincy Jones would say things like, well, you know,

08:58take Thriller. You know, I had to sit down and listen to 800 songs before we found the ones to

09:02put on that album, thereby suggesting that even an artist at the level of Michael Jackson

09:10might not really be anywhere if it weren't for songs and dot, dot, dot, a great producer,

09:15dot, dot, dot, i.e. Quincy Jones. So there was a little, you know, maybe I don't want to say there

09:22was a feud there, but that relationship, as exalted as it is, and we all know about it,

09:28was maybe not as easy going as his relationship with Sinatra.

09:33Mark Rotzo of Vanity Fair, thank you very much for joining us and sharing your analysis with us.

09:37It's been great to find out that little bit more. And there always seems to be something more to

09:42find out about Quincy Jones. Thank you, sir. Very much indeed. Great to see you. Thank you.

09:46Thanks for having me.

09:48Mark Rotzo, his analysis of Quincy Jones, who will be remembered by so many people in so many

09:53different ways. A good producer is priceless in our business, whether it's music, whether it's

09:58television. My producer, Fanny Dassey, thank you for always being there. Do stay with us. We've got

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