QUINCY JONES (1933 -2024)

Quincy Jones, the legendary producer and musical visionary, has passed away on November 3rd at the age of ninety-one. The Chicago-born artist began his career as a jazz arranger and conductor in the 1950's before moving into producing pop music with his first major hit, "It's My Party" for a then-sixteen year old singer, Lesley Gore which went to number one in 1963.

Throughout his extraordinary career, Jones had worked with many of the greatest musical performers of all time with the most notable being, Michael Jackson who he went on to produce his albums, "Off The Wall", "Thriller" and "Bad" which together sold well over one hundred and twenty-five million albums worldwide. Jones also composed numerous musical scores for film and television ("In Cold Blood", "Roots", "The Wiz", "The Color Purple") and was involved in organizing the artists and co-producing the 1985 US charity single, "We Are The World" to help the victims of famine in Ethiopia, raising more than eighty million dollars for the cause.

Jones helped create so much music during his time that it would be extremely difficult to try and cover even a fraction of the recordings he went on to produce. To pay tribute to this musical genius, I will focus here on the studio albums that Jones would release under his own name over the years. Here is just a tiny playlist of my favorites:

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC IN 2018

I think 2018 was a great year in music that offered something for everyone. While hip-hop and rap continued to dominate the music industry, I'm particularly thrilled that good old-fashioned soul music found it's way back on the airwaves and the charts. We had young, new artists like Ella Mai, H.E.R., Daniel Caesar and Jorja Smith who are reviving the r&b tradition and the return of classic performers like Toni Braxton, Tank, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi and Tamia whose new music was actually getting played on radio. This is one trend I hope continues in to 2019. And to close out 2018, here are a few songs that I loved last year that I didn't get a chance to share:

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Once again, here are a few sights and sounds that I'm digging at this particular moment.

"Pillow Talk" - Sylvia (1973)

"Give Me You" - Tamia (2013)

I have to admit that I've never gotten in to the music of Ciara but I'm really in to the latest single, "Body Party". Written by the proclaimed, Princess of Crunk&B and her boyfriend, the rapper, Future, the tune is a slow-burning ballad that samples one of my favorite songs, "My Boo" by the Ghost Town DJ's. Look for it on her next album, "One Woman Army", due out in June:



The British electropop artist, Little Boots has dropped some new music from her forthcoming second album, "Nocturnes".  Although there was a music video made for the song, "Headphones", it does not appear listed as a track on the album. Perhaps it might show up on some future deluxe edition or something but no matter. It's a great tune and a fun video:




"Attracting Flies" - AlunaGeorge (2013)

"Sacrilege" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2013)



Phoenix, the French alt-rock band, has finally resurfaced following their 2009 world-wide smash album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix".  The first single, "Entertainment" is off of their fifth studio album, "Bankrupt!", expected later this month:

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

Canadian r&b singer, Tamia was first brought to our attention by producer extraordinaire, Quincy Jones with the single, "You Put A Move On My Heart" back in 1994. She had a few other hits throughout the rest of the decade but we haven't heard much from her lately. It could be that she's been busy with her husband, NBA player, Grant Hill and raising their two children but she has recently resurfaced with a very hot new song, "Beautiful Surprise".

I am really loving this tune and it's just a taste of what's to come as there will be a new album to follow, which should be out by August.

In the meanwhile, enjoy this:

"Beautiful Surprise" - Tamia

Flashback to the music video for another great song from Tamia; "Officially Missing You" from 2004: