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From Elvis to Donna to Stevie: how hit-making legend Quincy Jones created superstars and changed pop history
Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davies, Frank Sinatra, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick … the powerhouse producer made magical music with everyone who was anyone. We pay tribute to the genius of ‘the Dude’
He was a musician, arranger, composer, solo artist, record company executive, mogul, entrepreneur and a producer not just of music but of films and TV – and, as was noted in Chris Heath’s extraordinary, headline-grabbing 2018 profile piece Quincy Jones Has a Story About That, he had known everyone. With In Cold Blood, he faced down the racism of Truman Capote, who wanted someone who wasn’t black On the other, perhaps you could tell they were the work of the same man: after all, beneath the campy melodrama of the lyrics, there was a distinct Latin-American flavour to the rhythm of It’s My Party, an elegance to its punchy horn arrangement. Their cast lists gradually became more packed, as jazz musicians rubbed shoulders with star vocalists and crack session players: 1974’s Body Heat featured Herbie Hancock and Bob James alongside members of the Funk Brothers, Stevie Wonder-affiliated synth pioneers Tonto’s Expanding Headband, Billy Preston, Minnie Riperton and Al Jarreau.
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