OUR TAKE: Quincy Jones – Jazz Man

Not sure that anyone in the history of music was more influential than Quincy Jones. His career spanned over seven decades. Known worldwide for his work with Michael Jackson, composing the music for the highly-acclaimed television series Roots and the production of “We Are The World,” Jones has been awarded nearly every honor in music, including 28 GRAMMY®s, an Emmy, a Tony, four Golden Globes and seven Academy Award nominations.  

But you know most of that already. What you may not know is that before he was “Q,” he was a cornerstone of the world of jazz. As a young man in Seattle, Jones became an accomplished trumpeter, earning him a scholarship at Lawrence Berk’s Schillinger House in Boston (now known as Berklee School of Music).

His first significant gig was with Lionel Hampton. He would go on to work with Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, serve as a trumpeter and musical director for Dizzy Gillespie and formed his own big band with Eddie Jones and Reunald Jones. Though the three were unrelated, the band was called The Jones Boys.  

Around this time, the Red Auerbach/Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics featured Sam and K.C. Jones as a dynamic duo coming of the bench to give starters, Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, a rest. They, too, were named The Jones Boys. I have often wondered if there was a connection there. Two young, highly skilled and fabulously athletic black men spelling two aging white players, one being one of the greatest ball handlers in the sport and the other being a deadly shooter, was always of interest to me.

Back in those days, the NBA had only eight teams and the St. Louis Hawks, my hometown team, was the furthest west of any franchise. Ever wonder why they call the Los Angeles franchise the “Lakers”? They began as the Minneapolis Lakers back in the day.

Back to Quincy Jones. Though The Jones Boys were top notch in every way, they lacked the business discipline to make the financial end work. It was then that Jones began his path to becoming one of the most successful and influential people in the music business.

This was also the time that Jones began a historic relationship with Frank Sinatra. Jones was at the height of the jazz world then as he produced and arranged several Sinatra/Count Basie shows, recordings and concerts. One show (1965) included Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and Johnny Carson. Famously, the show was broadcasted to movie theaters and later released as a video recording.

That show was a fundraiser for a local charity located in….drum roll, please…St. Louis, Missouri. I would have been 15 at the time. Here is the part of the story where I tell you that I was at the concert, met Quincy Jones and the others and it changed my life forever. Unfortunately, none of that is true. (Many, many years later, I was fortunate to meet Q at a reception before the Monterey Jazz Festival.)

What is true is that same year, 1965, the St. Louis Hawks hosted the NBA All Star Game. Along with six of my friends, I was a “runner” for the game, which means that I did various errands before, during and after the game. At one point, I was stationed at half court where the players would wait to enter the game as substitutes.  

While sitting there, I was tapped on the head and told to tell Red Auerbach, coach of the East All Stars, to call timeout so that the television broadcast could show a commercial. Dutifully, I ran around the perimeter of the court and went up to Auerbach who was sitting next to All Star Tommy Heinsohn.  

Stuttering mercilessly, I tried to get the words out. Both of them knew what I was trying to say, but they were enjoying my embarrassment too much to help me out. Eventually, I was done with my message. A timeout was called. I retreated to a less stressful “runner” assignment.

What does this have to do with Quincy Jones? Absolutely nothing, except that the story reminds me of a time in my life when I first became aware of Quincy Jones and the world of jazz. Quincy Jones went on to define and be significant in virtually all music genres. That level of talent is astounding to me.

By the way, did you know that Quincy Jones played trumpet in the band that backed Elvis Presley on each of his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show? One of these days, I will share some stories about my Uncle Herman who was the Technical Director for that show for many years. I am guessing that he did actually meet Quincy Jones.

By Michael Lazaroff, Executive Director of The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise, Chris Botti at Sea, Christian McBride’s World at Sea and Journey of Jazz. Feel free to express your views or pose questions to him at [email protected]

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