Quincy Jones (1933-2024)

Back On The Block

Last week, my church had a First Friday concert featuring a jazz instrumental quartet. One of the last songs they performed was Killer Joe, and I knew I had a version of that song with a vocalist. But I couldn’t initially recall on what album.

Then it occurred to me that it was on Q’s Jook Joint, the 1995 album by Quincy Jones; that track featured Töne Löc, Queen Latifah, and Nancy Wilson (the jazz artist, not the Heart member). One of the people with whom I was talking also had the album. 

Soon afterward, I heard that he passed away. As the Los Angeles Times put it, he “expanded the American songbook as a musician, composer, and producer and shaped some of the biggest stars and most memorable songs in the second half of the 20th century.”

“The music producer has been a cornerstone of the music industry since his early beginnings as an 18 year old in Seattle, performing as a trumpeter and arranger for various jazz bands around the area.” 

Quincy was always a major force in my life, even before I knew who he was. His previous album, Back On The Block, from 1989, featured various artists I mentioned here.

He wrangled all the artists in the all-star recording of We Are The World, the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa. The same year, he scored and co-produced the movie The Color Purple. 

The Gloved One

Q produced the massively successful Michael Jackson albums Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. Audio interviews with Jones are included in the 2001 special editions of the albums. Q called Eddie Van Halen to ask to play on Thriller’s Beat It, but the guitarist hung up, assuming someone was pranking him. Q’s then-wife, Peggy Lipton, knew Vincent Price and helped get him for the title track. 

Possibly my favorite Q-produced song: Strawberry Letter 23. 

Q created the music for Sanford and Son, Ironside, The Cosby Show, and several other programs. He scored Roots and over three dozen movies.

Until much later, I did not know this. “Jones produced all four million-selling singles for Lesley Gore during the early and mid-sixties, including “It’s My Party” (UK No. 8; US No. 1), its sequel “Judy’s Turn To Cry” (US No. 5), “She’s A Fool” (also a US No. 5) in 1963, and “You Don’t Know Me” (US No. 2 for four weeks in 1964). He continued to produce for Gore until 1966, including the Greenwich/Barry hits “Look Of Love” (US No. 27 in 1965) and “Maybe I Know” (UK No. 20; US No. 14 in 1964).”

He worked with Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Sammy Davis Jr., Barbra Streisand, Helen Merrill, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Andy Williams, and Sonny Bono, among many others.

His accolades are extensive, filling 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography, “Q.” You can read the pieces from THR, Variety, and the New York Times. 

“Quincy Jones’ last Grammy win took place at the 65th awards held in 2023; through Harry Styles’ win with Harry’s House as the Album of the Year, it took Jones’ all-time Grammy records to 28 wins from 80 nominations.”

I may never vote on Election Day again

early voting

Surprisingly, I’ve discovered I may never vote on Election Day again. For the longest time, I had identified myself as the person who would roll out of bed on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November around 5:30 a.m., throw on some clothes, and be the first or second person in line to vote at 6 a.m.

For the longest time, I couldn’t vote in the morning on primary days in New York because the state had this stupid law: Only the people who lived in New York City, the immediate suburbs, and Erie County (Buffalo metro) could vote at 6:00 a.m. The rest of us could only vote from noon to 9:00 p.m., which I thought was discriminatory against upstaters. However, they fixed that flaw a few years ago, thank goodness.

There are many opportunities to vote before the Primary and Election Day. The polls in New York State open two Saturdays before Election Day and run for nine days from that Saturday to the Sunday before Election Day. The polls are closed on that Monday, but then, of course, Election Day is open.

According to the State Board of Elections, New York State is on pace to surpass the number of early voters in the 2020 election. So, I get a tad cranky when folks complain about the long lines. They have NINE days of early voting PLUS Election Day.

I started voting by mail during COVID-19. The early morning Election Day thing that used to self-define is gone. This year, I voted early on Tuesday between 3:00 and 4:00 PM at the Board of Elections in downtown Albany, which used to be the DMV.

I got nothing if you’re looking for last-minute suggestions to tell your friends how to vote. Heck, the Weekly Sift guy is just doing referrals.  But watch John Oliver anyway. 

Swing time

I feel bad for all of you in the so-called swing states—Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan—because you must be inundated with presidential ads. We get almost nothing here except some ads on national programs.

Most are for a few congressional seats south of Albany, but the Albany media market reaches them. Fortunately, I recorded most of the television I watch, so I can fast forward through all of them, most of which were produced not by the campaigns but by the party congressional committees. They look, for the most part, built to scare people, and I’m not that interested. It’s not that I don’t care; the New York congressional races may determine whether the Democrats have control of the House of Representatives. So it’s not that they’re unimportant, but it’s not enough for me to watch them.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times noted this about djt: His “increasingly dark vision of America is less of unity and promise than of suspicion and grievance directed at those who cross him.

“Librarians are harassed, teachers vilified, election workers threatened. Immigrants are demonized, and armed groups march outside state capitols. Even meteorologists are targeted in conspiracy theories.”

I increasingly feel it’s my duty and obligation to become an election worker, if not in 2025, then in 2026. I’ve done it twice before, most recently in 2021. Sometimes, you have to face the beast.

Listen to I Bought Myself A Politician – MonaLisa Twins

Viridescent

You Can’t Do That

The WordDaily for September 12 was viridescent. The accent is on the third syllable. I was unfamiliar with the term, though I knew it likely was green-adjacent.

“‘Viridescent’ is an adjective you’ll likely see only in poetic or literary contexts. It comes directly from the Latin word of the same spelling, meaning ‘becoming green,’ from the Latin word for ‘green,’ ‘viridis.’ As we see from the Latin, ‘viridescent’ isn’t just a shade of green; it’s an adjective that describes something in the process of becoming green. It may be used for shoots of new growth, or shades shifting between hues of yellow or blue to green.”

Some animals turn green as camouflage.

Watching trees becoming green is one of the great joys of living in the Northeastern US in the spring. One April, I traveled to the southeast US; I don’t remember where, when, or why. What I do recall that it was appreciably greener there, which disrupted my expectations. Then back to Albany and the not-quite greenery.    

I lean into the the green. On the September 12 Wordle:

Wordle 1,181 3/6

🟨🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

My second word was GRASS because most grass is green. (The word was actually BRASS, but close enough.)

Musical reference: Mountain Greenery from the Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart. All of my Supremes albums were stolen from my grandmother’s house in the early 1970s  – which made me blue – except that one LP which appeared to have been dropped by the thief.  

Dad

Not Being Green, but Becoming Green. It’s an interesting concept. I think of my father, who was born Leslie Walker but legally became Leslie Green only a couple of weeks before his 18th birthday in 1944. However, he’s listed as Green (misspelled Greene) in the 1940 Census.  

In doing the genealogy, I’ve concentrated on the Walker (dad’s mom), Yates (mom’s mom), Williams (mom’s dad), and even the recently discovered Cone (dad’s bio dad). But I hadn’t spent much time on the Green line because they weren’t my biological ancestors. At some point, I should remedy that. 

Speaking of lineage, when I received over time revised ancestry breakdown, I went from being 23% Irish to being 28% Irish in the past five years. I’m becoming more (wearing of the) green. 

So I lean into the color. One of my favorite Beatles songs is You Can’t Do That because it has the bridge: 

Everybody’s green‘Cause I’m the one, who won your loveBut if they’d seenYou’re talking that way they’d laugh in my face

BTW, I’m also fond of the Harry Nilsson medley.

Turning green with envy. Jealousy is the green-eyed monster. What an unpleasant transformation, I don’t want to change to THAT kind of green. 

Coverville 1505 is the Emerald Anniversary Episode with green in all of the titles, save one. 

I’m continuing to figure out the ever-evolving R. Green. 

Sunday Stealing: local events

feckless

  1. Albany culturalI hate the question numbering mechanism on Sunday Stealing, but I like the questions.
  2. Local events, parades, or festivals – either in your hometown or state – I’ve said this before: there are so many things going on in Albany on any given day that people who tell me that they’re bored irritate the crap out of me. For instance, there are several First Friday events, including one at my church every month from November to May. In December, the choir is going to be singing the Bach Magnificat.
  3. Life update – what’s happened recently, moving house, family wedding, vacation, new pet, visiting with a friend, and so on. I went to two funerals in October, one at my church and one in the Mid-Hudson, which I attended for about 35 minutes before I had to go back to Albany.
  4. Do you have any family traditions this month? The only tradition I can think of is that we have to go pick up the daughter from college and then bring her back the next week.
  5. The holidays are about two months away. Do you begin shopping or creating now or wait until December? I go shopping when I’m inspired to get something. I have given one of my sisters and her daughter presents already. My other sister, I have no idea what I’m getting her yet. As for my wife, as I’ve noted previously, she is a terrible person to shop for. I just asked my daughter what she wants, and I am trying to get it for her to the degree I can.
  6. MEMORY
  7. What is your favorite November memory? It was probably Thanksgiving 1987, I believe. I was out of town with my then-girlfriend, and about two dozen people were there eating. It was a lovely time.
  8. Now that the weather is getting cooler do you prefer? Staying indoors or going outdoors? What do you do? It was 79°F in Albany, NY on October 31st. It was about 10° cooler the following day, but it’s not all that bad. I stay indoors when it’s hot or cold, but the temperature between 20 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit is tolerable unless it’s humid and warm or very windy and cool.
  9. Describe your favorite local restaurant. I love the fact that there are four or five restaurants within two blocks of my house, and I tend to frequent them periodically. One is a bar/restaurant/burger joint. Another was a breakfast place that had expanded its hours. One’s an Indian restaurant, and in the same building, a pizza place that serves lamb over rice and other items. On the corner is a Mediterranean restaurant. I go to other restaurants,  but these are the ones that I tend to go to most because the geography lends itself.
  10. Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving? I had no idea what Friendsgiving was until now.
  11. If you could take any class, what would you select? I have recently taken a handful of classes on genealogy.
  12. To celebrate November, would you rather enjoy pumpkin pie or sweet potato? Meh. Sweet potato, I suppose.
  13. MESSING UP
  14. How do you handle setbacks and failures? I brood and beat myself up for a while, and then I get bored with that and move on.
  15. If everything in your house had to be one color, which color would you choose? Well duh. Green, of course.
  16. Who or what would you haunt if you were a ghost? The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson. I was thinking about him, and the word feckless came to mind. I double-checked to make sure the definition was what I meant to say. “Weak in character.” Yep.
  17. Have you ever worn clothing with the labels still attached? Fairly frequently, not intentionally. More often, new pants than anything else.
  18. What’s something weird that you recommend everyone try at least once? Talking to your stuffed animals. I do it all the time with mine; occasionally, they talk back.

1994: the non-crossover #1s, AC and RB

Here are the non-crossover #1s, the hits for 1994 in adult contemporary and rhythm and blues.

Adult contemporary, besides the Celine Dion and Boyz II Men crossovers:

Now and Forever – Richard Marx, 11 weeks at  #1. I have but a vague recollection of this song.

Can You Feel The Love Tonight – Elton John, eight weeks at #1. I’ve seen at least five productions of The Lion King, including one in which my daughter appeared.  I saw Elton perform in Albany in 1998.

Wild Night – John Mellencamp/ Me’shell Ndegeocello, eight weeks at #1. I remember this mostly because it reminded me of the Van Morrison original. 

All I Wanna Do – Sheryl Crow, eight weeks at #1, from an album I actually own.

I’ll Remember – Madonna, four weeks at #1. It is from the soundtrack to the motion picture With Honors, a film I do not recall. While I’ve owned earlier Madonna music, I wasn’t familiar with this song.

There are only seven AC #1 songs in total for 1994.

Another tidy list

Hot R&B singles, besides R. Kelly and Boyz II Men crossovers:

Any Time, Any Place – Janet Jackson, ten weeks at #1. When I saw her at SPAC in 2018, this song was on the setlist, but I wasn’t familiar with it.

Creep – TLC, nine weeks at #1, gold record. The post title is a bit of a misnomer for this song. Creep did go to #1 pop for four weeks, but not until January 1995.

Seven Whole Days – Toni Braxton, five weeks at #1. I own this album as well. 

Cry For You – Jodeci, four weeks at #1

I Wanna Be Down – Brandy, four weeks at #1

Back & Forth – Aaliyah, three weeks at #1. She’s likely my daughter’s favorite 1990s artist.

Practice What You Preach – Barry White, three weeks at #1

Understanding – Xscape, two weeks at #1

There are only ten R&B songs in total for 1994.

 

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