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musicality. I go for the music that gives me goose bumps,
music that touches my heart and my soul.” Over the years,
Quincy Jones has reached the essence of music and art:
the ability to touch people’s feelings and emotions.
In 2001, Quincy Jones added the title “Best
Selling Author” to his list of accomplishments when his
autobiography Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones entered
the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal
Best-Sellers lists. Released by Doubleday Publishing, the
critically acclaimed biography retells Jones’ life story from
his days as an impoverished youth on the Southside of
Chicago through a massively impressive career in music,
film and television where he worked beside legends such
as Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Count
Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Michael Jackson, among many
others. In conjunction with the autobiography, Rhino
Records released a 4-cd boxed set of Jones’ music, spanning
his more than 5 decade career in the music business,
entitled “Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones.”
The audio recording of “Q: The Autobiography
of Quincy Jones,” (Simon & Schuster) earned Jones
his 27th Grammy Award, in the Best Spoken Word
Category, while “Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy
Jones” garnered him a 15th NAACP Image Award,
in the category of Outstanding Jazz Artist.
In 2008 The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey &
Passions, (Palace Press) examined the virtuosity of the man
Frank Sinatra named “Q,” celebrating his prolific contribution
to American art and culture. The book included a foreword
by Clint Eastwood, preface from Bono, an introduction by
Maya Angelou and an afterword by Sidney Poitier. Comprised
of personal interviews and recollections from Jones, this
collection peers behind the veil of celebrity, with extraordinary
access to his creative inspirations and achievements.
FS i
Jones next projects include the forthcoming
release of Soul Bossa Nostra, an album featuring some of
today’s biggest recording artists and producers such as
Usher, Ludacris, Akon, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Mary
J. Blige, T-Pain, Robin Thicke, LL Cool J, John Legend,
Snoop Dogg, Wyclef Jean, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Three 6 Mafia,
David Banner, Bebe Winans, Mervyn Warren, Jermaine
Dupri, DJ Paul, and Scott Storch, among others, who have
joined together to celebrate the music of the multi-Grammy
winning producer, composer and arranger by recording
contemporary versions of popular recordings from his
massive catalog; the book Q on Producing which recounts
his six-decade long career working in the recording studio
with music icons such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington,
Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, among
many others; a duets album with Stevie Wonder and Tony
Bennett; as well as multiple projects for film and television.
With a long history of humanitarian work which
began in the 1960’s and 70’s, Jones was one of the key
supporters of Jesse Jackson’s Operation P.U.S.H. In 1985, he
pioneered the model of using celebrity to raise money and
awareness for a cause with “We Are the World.” The song
remains the best-selling single of all-time, and raised more
than $63 Million for Ethiopian famine relief. More importantly,
however, it shined a spotlight on the Ethiopian drought and
U.S. Government responded with over $800 million in aid.
In 1999 Quincy Jones joined Bono and Bob
Geldof during a meeting with Pope John Paul IT as a part of
the Jubilee 2000 delegation to end third world debt. The
delegation’s visit resulted in $27 billion in third world debt
relief for Bolivia, Mozambique, and the Ivory Coast.
In 2004, in front of a live audience of more than
a half-million spectators, Jones launched the We Are the
Future initiative with a concert featuring Carlos Santana,
Alicia Keyes, Josh Groban, Oprah Winfrey, Norah Jones
and a host of other entertainers from around the world.
The initiative has established Municipal Child Centers
in the cities of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Asmara (Eritrea),
Freetown (Sierra Leone), Kigali (Rwanda) and Nablus
(Palestine) where youth are being trained to run child-
based programs in health, nutrition, Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), Sports and Arts.
In 2007, Jones and the Harvard School of Public
Health joined forces to advance the health and well-being of
children worldwide through Project Q, a strategic initiative
of School’s Center for Health Communication. Through
the strategic use of media, Project Q challenges leaders
and citizens of the world to provide essential resources
to enable young people to achieve their full potential.
A centerpiece of Project Q is the Q Prize, which
recognizes extraordinary leadership by public figures and social
entrepreneurs who are championing the needs of children.
The inaugural Q Prize was awarded in January 2007 to Scott
Neeson, founder of the Cambodian Children’s Fund, and over
$600,000 was raised in support of Neeson’s work. The 2008
Q Prize will be awarded on October 23 in New York City.
Through his personal foundation, The Quincy
Jones Foundation, Jones raises awareness and financial
resources for initiatives that support global children’s
issues in areas of conflict, malaria eradication, clean
water and efforts to restore the Gulf Coast (post-Katrina).
Philanthropic partners include Malaria No More, Millennium
Promise, and R&B singer Usher’s New Look Foundation.
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