28 Grammys to his name, an Academy Award for best original score, producer, composer, songwriter. He helped to introduce us to some of the biggest names that will ever exist. We all grew up listening to & watching things that he did.
At the age of 91, Quincy Jones passed away. In that time, he did some amazing things. There is his obvious work with Michael Jackson, having produced three of MJ's albums. Quincy Jones also worked with Frank Sinatra a bit.
In 1961, Quincy became the vice president of Mercury Records & was the first African American to hold the position. Also in 1961, Sidney Lumet invited him to compose the music for The Pawnbroker, which was the first of nearly 40 motion picture scores created by Quincy Jones. (This includes a 1960 film adaptation of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, which he won his Academy Award for.) He didn't just score tv & movies, he showed up in them!! Quincy introduced a Gershwin song in Disney's Fantasia 2000. He had a cameo in Austin Powers Goldmember & appeared on SNL in the 1990s. Quincy also produced the occasional television show, including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which in turn brought attention to a young Will Smith. (He is also listed as a producer on the Fresh Prince reboot - Bel-Air.)
Along the way, Quincy Jones wrote an autobiography - Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. This in addition to the biographies out there about him & the documentary that was made, titled Quincy.
Quincy Jones was also a do-gooder in his own right. He served on the advisory board of Health corps, a nonprofit that provides school based & organizational health education & peer mentoring, in addition to community outreach to underserved populations. He was a supporter of AmfAR (the American Foundation for AIDS Research) & the Maybach Foundation (a nonprofit seeking to showcase engineering & design heritage to inspire innovation), in addition to the support he gave to the NAACP & GLAAD. Quincy was also a spokesperson for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, as well as an honorary member of the board of directors for the Jazz Foundation of America.
For most of our lives, music associated with Quincy Jones has been part of our lives. He was also someone willing to share his spotlight with worthy causes. The library does have access to music produced by Quincy Jones, movies & tv shows he was associated with, & materials about the various nonprofits he participated in.
And thank you to Quincy Jones for making the world a better place!