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Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933), also known as "Q", is an American record producer, composer, and musician. Born in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, he started out in jazz and got his big break in film scores, starting with ''Film/ThePawnbroker''. Among the films he's scored include ''Film/InColdBlood'', ''Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight'', ''Film/CactusFlower'', ''Film/TheOutOfTowners'', ''Film/TheColorPurple1985'', and many more. During this time period he started branching out into collaborating and arranging with the day's biggest artists, including Music/FrankSinatra, Music/CountBasie, Music/DizzyGillespie, Music/DukeEllington, Music/MilesDavis, Music/SarahVaughan, Music/DinahWashington... it would almost be quicker to list great musicians he ''hasn't'' worked with. One of his longest and most-publicized collaborations was with Music/MichaelJackson, which started with ''Film/TheWiz''. Jones would go on to get Jackson signed onto Creator/EpicRecords, producing his solo albums ''Music/OffTheWall'', ''Music/{{Thriller}}'', and ''Music/{{Bad}}''.

He has some surprising connections in the music world. In particular, his Creator/WarnerBrosRecords imprint, Qwest, was the U.S. distributor for English AlternativeDance band Music/NewOrder (and its predecessor Music/JoyDivision) from 1985 until the label's initial closure in 2000. Jones, a fan of the band, caught onto their growing popularity among urban black listeners in the '80s, with their 1983 single "Confusion" being especially popular among breakdancers, and scored a deal with the Manchester quartet to give them far greater levels of US distribution than what they had previously received on the comparatively small American branch of Creator/FactoryRecords. Jones also produced the 1988 remix of the band's SignatureSong "Blue Monday", gushed about the band in the 1993 ''[=NewOrderStory=]'' documentary, and supervised the production of the 1995 US release of the GreatestHitsAlbum ''(the best of) [=NewOrder=]'' (which was given a significantly different tracklist than the 1994 British release to make it stand out more from their earlier compilation ''Music/{{Substance|NewOrderAlbum}}'', which was still in print at the time).

Another fairly leftfield connection of Jones' (at least to modern audiences) is with actor and rapper Creator/WillSmith. Jones, who served as the executive producer of and musical composer for ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', met Smith at a house party in 1989 and suggested that he audition for the show based on a junked spec script for a pilot that would've starred Music/{{Prince}} associate and Music/TheTime frontman Morris Day. Smith had already been suggested to appear on the show by co-creator Benny Medina, but was reluctant to take up the role due to his lack of acting experience; it was Jones' recommendation that encouraged Smith to audition for the show, which in turn led to the rapper becoming one of the most famous black TV actors since Creator/BillCosby, paving the way for him to become a major Hollywood actor independent of his music career. So if there's anyone to thank for Will Smith's acting fame, it's Quincy Jones.

All in all, Jones's career has spanned over sixty years, and a record 80 Grammy Award nominations (with 28 wins).

Jones has seven children, a few of whom are famous in their own right -- his son with Ulla Andersson (also named Quincy) is also a record producer, and his daughters with Creator/PeggyLipton, Creator/{{Rashida|Jones}} and Kidada, are actresses. He is the topic of Rashida Jones's Grammy-winning documentary, ''Quincy''.
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!!Solo Discography
* ''Jazz Abroad'' (1955)
* ''This Is How I Feel About Jazz'' (1956)
* ''Go West, Man!'' (1957)
* ''Quincy's Home Again'' (1958)
* ''The Birth of a Band!'' (1959)
* ''The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones'' (1959)
* ''I Dig Dancers'' (1960)
* ''Around the World'' (1961)
* ''The Quintessence'' (1961)
* ''Big Band Bossa Nova'' (1962)
* ''Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits'' (1963)
* ''Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini'' (1964)
* ''Golden Boy'' (1964)
* ''Quincy Plays for Pussycats'' (1965)
* ''Quincy's Got a Brand New Bag'' (1965)
* ''Walking in Space'' (1969)
* ''Gula Matari'' (1970)
* ''Smackwater Jack'' (1971)
* ''You've Got It Bad Girl'' (1973)
* ''Body Heat'' (1974)
* ''Mellow Madness'' (1975)
* ''I Heard That!!'' (1976)
* ''Sounds... and Stuff Like That!!'' (1978)
* ''The Dude'' (1981)
* ''Back on the Block'' (1989)
* ''Q's Jook Joint'' (1995)
* ''Basie & Beyond'' (2000)
* ''Q: Soul Bossa Nostra'' (2010)
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!!Tropes in his music:

* CareerEndingInjury: He was forced to quit playing the trumpet after suffering a near-fatal aneurysm in 1974. The doctors had to implant a steel plate which they feared could come loose if he were to play again. He has since turned to producing music, with his solo discography featuring him working as an arranger with minimal performance roles.
* CoverVersion: "Ai no Corrida" was originally by Chaz Jenkel of Music/IanDuryAndTheBlockheads, while "I'll Be Good to You" was first performed by the Brothers Johnson.
* PopStarComposer: Jones composed and performed the theme song to ''Series/SanfordAndSon'', "The Streetbeater".
* RearrangeTheSong: He owned Music/NewOrder's record label in the US, Qwest Records, and remixed "Blue Monday" as "Blue Monday 1988" to promote the band's singles compilation ''Music/{{Substance|NewOrderAlbum}}'' (which featured the original version of the song).
* SelfTitledAlbum: Several of his album titles have his full stage name (e.g. ''Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits''), his first name (e.g. ''Quincy's Home Again'') or his nickname Q (e.g. ''Q's Jook Joint'').
* SpecialGuest: Thanks to his clout as a highly successful {{jazz}} and RAndB artist, Jones built up a sizable list of connections in the Black music world throughout the '70s and '80s, inviting many of them to play on his various projects as both a producer and a solo artist. This is most prominently illustrated with ''Back on the Block'', which includes vocal and instrumental contributions from some of the biggest names in jazz, R&B, and HipHop at the time, including Music/RayCharles, Music/IceT, Music/AlBSure, Music/HerbieHancock, and Music/MilesDavis (among countless others).
* ThemeTuneExtended: ''Series/SanfordAndSon'''s "The Streetbeater" was extended to three minutes and included on Jones' 1973 album ''You've Got It Bad, Girl''.
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