Great comments by bdp24. I agree, except that I think the opinion of someone who has been such a force in the music INDUSTRY is relevant if only to explain some of the seemingly unexplainable. What I think is being missed here, and is obvious to me from his comments, is the reality of the corrupting power of that kind of success and wealth and of being part of the ENTERTAINMENT elite. It takes a special personality to remain grounded and not lose touch with the basics of what it is to be an artist. In most respects what happens in the upper echelons of the pop music world is no different from what happens in Hollywood; it is a breeding ground for overblown egos and self-aggrandizement. For me the most interesting thing in his comments was his focus on and criticisms of the musicianship of The Beatles, Hendrix and others. Q is an extremely talented producer/arranger without a doubt, but he was a very mediocre section trumpet player who found his niche as an orchestrator while in Basie’s band. I know and have known so many orchestrators who when hanging out with the players on a session or rehearsal like nothing more than to “talk shop” with the musicians who play whatever their own instrument was when they were getting started in the business. Deep inside some of them are frustrated instrumentalists.
Quincy Jones Interview
Showing 11 responses by frogman
Charles, **** are you saying that you cannot critique the musicianship of others unless you yourself were a great musician yourself? **** Not at all; and I could not agree more with your comments. The motivation for Q’s criticisms of some musicians’ ability is, and I believe I left, as an open question. My point was simply that I found it interesting that he should focus so much on the technical ability of musicians while (as in the case of The Beatles) apparently not be able to recognize the generally acknowledged excellence of their music in other areas. I found this particularly interesting coming from a person who had relatively limited ability as an instrumentalist himself, and whose important contributions were in other areas as well. Any deeper digging into the psychology of it all I would leave to others to judge for themselves. Don’t get me wrong I am a very big fan of his work, from the soundtrack to the film “The Pawnbroker” to “Sinatra At The Sands” to, yes, MJ’s “Thriller”; and on and on. But I was surprised and frankly very turned off by what came across in that interview as an attitude of overblown ego and elitist attitude about art; particularly interesting coming from someone whose artistic output later in his career, while technically brilliant and on the highest level of production quality, has often been no more than fantastic ear candy (to use his own term). |
To excuse because of age and illness in the context of an amazing career...possibly...up to a point. But wholesale excuse without important caveats...no way! That because of an epic career one has the right to say whatever one wants...really?! It is precisely because of his stature and the importance of his career that his comments need to be scrutinized for truth. Not only where some of his comments (opinions), particularly those of a very personal nature, inappropriate for a public forum, but some of them have been and are currently being disputed; they cloud the significance of the comments that have real value. Indisputably a giant in the music industry; but, again, think “Hollywood”. |
Thanks for clearing that up. Sure, his opinions are valid inasmuch as they are his, and everyone is entitled to have an opinion and “has a right” to express it no matter how inappropriate it may be under any particular circumstance. Moreover, and as you say, given his obvious and huge musical talent and huge career his opinions on music do carry a tremendous amount of weight. But, they are not necessarily valid as far as truth goes. Here’s the thing for me, and the Brando comment is just one example of many like it in that interview and elsewhere. How about a couple more?: He trashes Donald Trump and says he hates him; that he’s an idiot...or something like that. Yet, he “used to hang out with him”. Why? He accuses MJ of stealing a song (or part of the song....or whatever) from DS. Yet, where was he through all this? The role of a producer of his stature in a project like that is huge and he has control of practically everything. If, in fact, MJ was stealing something (he wasn’t, imo) why did he allow it? I would bet that the particular rhythm or bass line in question came mostly from Q. Now, all this combined with what is for me almost unbelievable; that he cannot, or won’t, appreciate, at least, the obvious song writing skills of The Beatles. Or, to not appreciate that even if Hendrix was nervous about playing with jazz musicians that this is only one side of a “coin” that most musicians hold dear and understand very well. IOW, that most of his “baddest cats” would feel just as out of place and as fish out of water playing with a great rock band like Hendrix’s. This is stuff that goes to the very fiber of being a musician. All this, while not diminishing in any way all that I love and respect about so much of his work, throws into question the validity of some of his ”opinions” and comments and what their underlying motivations might be. |
“The only justification for looking down on anyone, is that you're going to stop and pick them up” - Quincy Jones “I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it's not about you” - Quincy Jones “I was the most subtle person in the world” - Quincy Jones Something is wrong with this picture. |
minorl, I appreciate your interest in these topics and you obviously have an inquisitive mind when it comes to music. However, what you and others fail to understand is what bdp24, myself and others have tried to explain and that is that there is much more to being a good musician than sheer technical prowess; especially when comparing different genres of music which place very different types of demands on musicians. Since music can be such a personal and emotional thing for all of us, there is a tendency to seriously under estimate just how much there is to learn and understand about it and what being a musician is all about. With respect (and I base this only on what you have written here), you, like all of us, have a lot to learn. I won’t repeat the details of what I and others wrote previously on this subject. I do think it’s important to get grounded again and get back to what it was that started this disagreement. It was Quincy Jones’ ridiculous comment that The Beatles were “the worst musicians in the world”. Now, we can disagree as to their individual technical ability, but when considering their other musical talents it becomes obvious that Q’s comments about them (and others) were not grounded in reality. You seem to put a lot of stock in what has been “well documented”. Well, there is little in all that is music and that is “well documented” that carries as much weight, validity and relevance as the fact that Leonard Bernstein was one of the very greatest musical minds (as multi-genre composer, conductor and educator) ever. I highly recommend that you listen to his comments about the music of The Beatles and then consider if they really are anything other than important musicians; never mind “worst in the world”. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1CDz62GNx1A https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PMMe3iwBV-I |