NEW YORK: Quincy Jones, the impresario who dominated American music for decades and shaped the careers of stars including Michael Jackson, has died. He was 91 years old.

He was surrounded by family at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air at the time of his death on Sunday, his publicist Arnold Robinson said in a statement, without specifying a cause.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” his family said, according to the statement.

“And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.” From Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, jazz to hip-hop, Jones tracked the ever-fluctuating pulse of pop over his seven-decade-plus career — most often manipulating the beat himself.

Born in 1933 on the south side of Chicago, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. discovered a knack for the piano at a recreation center and became teenage buddies with Ray Charles.

He briefly studied at the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts before joining bandleader Lionel Hampton on the road, eventually relocating to New York, where he earned notoriety as an arranger for stars including Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Count Basie and, of course, Charles.

He played second trumpet on Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” teaming up with Dizzy Gillespie for several years before moving to Paris in 1957, where he studied under the legendary composer Nadia Boulanger. Jones later expanded into Hollywood, scoring films and television shows. Among entertainment’s most decorated figures, Jones won virtually every major achievement award, including 28 Grammys.

A jazz musician, composer and tastemaker, Jones’s studio chops and arranging prowess made him a star in his own right — his music soundtracked the 20th century, and his scores, soundtracks and hits still reverberate today. But his mark on the business side was indelible as well: Jones became the first Black executive of a major record company, and developed infrastructure within the industry to pave new pathways for Black artists.

“Today, we remember a true giant — a cultural icon whose transformative infl­uence will live on,” posted Reverend Al Sharpton in tribute.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2024