🎺 Quincy Jones Was Greater Than Any One Era /// Defector

He orchestrated Count Basie’s band when they played for Frank Sinatra. He composed the theme for Sanford and Son, and scored films like In The Heat of the Night, The Italian Job, and The Color Purple. He produced The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, co-founded Vibe magazine, brought jazz and hip-hop together for his Back On The Block album. Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad—there is not one medium, genre, or business within entertainment that did not have Jones’s hand in it.

There was never going to be another Quincy Jones. The streets are paved with people who have tried and come up short; today’s playing field cannot foster it. Hollywood is in a slump as more studios are controlled by private equity firms that believe in the worst approaches to creativity and originality. The music industry is a mess, forever consolidating and forcing artists to prioritize their image and branding over their actual work. That’s not what Jones believed in. He believed in music as a spiritual process

Yes, yes, I’m super late to this, but I still think it’s important to recognize him for how he worked, his approach, his belief in the creative process, and obviously, all of the great music he helped put out into the world.