When Quincy Jones, in his famously freewheeling interview with New York magazine earlier this year, was asked to name the greatest musical innovation of his storied career, he answered, “Everything I’ve done.” It’s hard to argue with that. Born in 1933, Jones began as a jazz trumpeter, and he worked his way up to a spot in Dizzy Gillespie’s band while honing his chops as a producer, composer and arranger for everyone from Count Basie to Duke Ellington and Ray Charles. He was even in on the ground floor of rock & roll, conducting and arranging Big Maybelle’s 1955 record “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” two years before Jerry Lee Lewis recorded his hit version of the song. His production work began to take precedence in the early Sixties, when he helmed the first recordings an unknown singer named Lesley Gore, who promptly assumed the status of pop icon; he also began garnering Grammy nominations, eventually taking home 27 of the awards.
In the Sixties, Jones became a prolific soundtrack composer and a recording artist in his own right. A stroke in 1974 nearly ended his life, but he bounced back quickly, engineering the triumphant rise of Michael Jackson to solo megastardom, starting with 1979’s historic Off the Wall. From there, Jones’ groundbreaking mix of studio technology, top-tier songwriting and sculptural arrangements – culminating in Jackson’s Thriller – altered the sonic landscape of the Eighties and beyond. The pop and R&B of the 21st century would be unrecognizable without his influence. Here are 20 of his greatest productions and compositions for other artists.
