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Q

The Autobiography of Quincy Jones

by Quincy Jones

Summary

Multi-talented composer/arranger/producer Quincy Jones's noteworthy career encompasses scores for movies such as IN COLD BLOOD and IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and production credits on Michael Jackson's classic '80s album THRILLER. Born into poverty in Chicago in 1933, one of Jones's earliest memories, recounted in his riveting autobiography, Q, is of seeing his schizophrenic mother being taken away to an Illinois mental hospital. Raised mainly by his adored father, and relocated to Seattle, Jones discovers a facility for music, specifically the trumpet, in which he is lucky to be schooled by none other than Clark Terry (who retells the story in his own contributory chapter), who is in town with Count Basie's band. Jones's subsequent history is a fortuitous combination of extraordinary talent, perseverance, and astounding energy. He performs with Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, and makes a name for himself as a producer and musical arranger for jazz greats like Frank Sinatra and Dinah Washington, both of whom he recalls in vivid detail. Jones also recounts his numerous affairs with women both Hollywood-famous (such as Mod Squad star Peggy Lipton, with whom he had two children, and who also contributes a chapter here), and European-glamorous. Reflecting its dynamic subject, Q (he was given the nickname by Frank Sinatra) is an energy-packed whirlwind tour through Jones's remarkable life.

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Media Reviews

"Ultimately, Q is worth reading as much for the way it traces the evolution of African-American music over the past five decades as for its portrait of Jones' undeniably fascinating life."    -- Tom Sinclair

   -- Entertainment Weekly

Bibliographic Details

Publisher: Bantam Dell Pub Group
Published date: 2001
Edition: 1th edition
Size: 6.75 x 9.75 inches
Weight: 1.8 pounds
Pages: 48

Publisher's Notes

Musician, composer, producer, arranger, and pioneering entrepreneur Quincy Jones has lived large and worked for five decades alongside the superstars of music and entertainment -- including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Ray Charles, Will Smith, and dozens of others. Q is his glittering and moving life story, told with the style, passion, and no-holds-barred honesty that are his trademarks.

Quincy Jones grew up poor on the mean streets of Chicago’s South Side, brushing against the law and feeling the pain of his mother’s descent into madness. But when his father moved the family west to Seattle, he took up the trumpet and was literally saved by music. A prodigy, he played backup for Billie Holiday and toured the world with the Lionel Hampton Band before leaving his teens. Soon, though, he found his true calling, inaugurating a career whose highlights have included arranging albums for Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, and Count Basie; composing the scores of such films as The Pawnbroker, In Cold Blood, In the Heat of the Night, and The Color Purple, and the theme songs for the television shows Ironside, Sanford and Son, and The Cosby Show; producing the bestselling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and the bestselling single “We Are the World”; and producing and arranging his own highly praised albums, including the Grammy Award—winning Back on the Block, a striking blend of jazz, African, urban, gospel, and hip-hop. His musical achievements, in a career that spans every style of American popular music, have yielded an incredible seventy-seven Grammy nominations, and are matched by his record as a pioneering music executive, film and television producer, tireless social activist, and business entrepreneur–one of the most successful black business figures in America. This string of unbroken triumphs in the entertainment industry has been shadowed by a turbulent personal life, a story he shares with eloquence and candor.

Q is an impressive self-portrait by one of the master makers of American culture, a complex, many-faceted man with far more than his share of talents and an unparalleled vision, as well as some entirely human flaws. It also features vivid testimony from key witnesses to his journey–family, friends, and musical and business associates. His life encompasses an astonishing cast of show business giants, and provides the raw material for one of the great African American success stories of this century.

Other Editions

• Hardcover Illustrated - Bantam Dell Pub Group (2001) - from $1.00
• Paperback Reprint - Bantam Dell Pub Group (2002) - from $7.50

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