A complete retrospective on the life and music of 26-time Grammy winner Quincy Jones is set for release October 16. The main feature will be the four-CD set titled Q: The Musical Biography Of Quincy Jones from Rhino Records; additionally, Doubleday is releasing Q: The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones, a book penned by Jones with help from friends and family.
The boxed set, which retails for $59.98, covers all aspects of Jones’s five-decade career, which spans from big band to jazz, pop to blues, soundtracks and film scores to R&B and hip-hop. The first disc covers work Jones did as a composer, bandleader, or arranger, and features tracks by Lionel Hampton, Big Maybelle, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and recordings made under his own name. Disc two includes many of Jones’s film and television compositions, including themes written for In Cold Blood, The Color Purple, Ironside, Sanford & Son, The Bill Cosby Show, and more.
Disc three covers Jones’s production output for an array of contemporary performers from an array of genres, including Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Donna Summer, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, George Benson, and Lesley Gore. The final disc in the collection includes tracks from Jones’s own considerable solo recording output, which features acclaimed albums Back On The Block and Q’s Jook Joint.
The CDs are packaged with a special CD booklet featuring photos hand-picked by Jones, as well as celebrity quotes from the likes of Maya Angelou, Bono, Bill Clinton, and many others. Music historian Gerald Early also contributes the historical essay “American Dream,” which puts Jones’s work into historical and cultural context.
Jones’s autobiography contains the musicians’ own recollections of his life and work, as well as alternate chapters penned by friends, including longtime pal Ray Charles, and family members. Last year, Jones described the book. “The style of the book is what they call a witness book, where I do a chapter, my brother does a chapter, I do a chapter, and Ray Charles does a chapter-and Clark Terry and all the people that were part of my life and I was part of their life,” he said.
Jones is also a co-producer of the upcoming five-part VH1 documentary series Say It Loud! A Celebration Of Black Music In America, which premieres on the channel on October 8.
