stories of tyrannical music producers ; however , Quincy Jones is all about loving the artist and gaining their trust and admiration so much that they would , in his words , “ jump without a net ”. He wanted a relationship that shared so much trust that he could make suggestions far outside an artist ’ s comfort zone — suggestions that might make them far better and more successful than they might have otherwise been .
I ’ ve been in sessions with Quincy . He is the most positive and loving producer that I ’ ve ever seen . It ’ s almost impossible for an artist to not flourish when working with Quincy . He truly models the importance of love and trust between the artist and producer .
YOU CAN NEVER BE A BETTER MUSICIAN THAN YOU ARE A PERSON Quincy has several mantras , one of which is , “ You can never be a better musician than you are a person .” I was fortunate enough to work with Quincy ’ s entire business team , staff , and several of his musicians and I can attest to the fact that , across the board , they are wonderful , thoughtful , genuine , polite , and caring people .
Quincy met Michael Jackson when he was doing the arranging and conducting for The Wiz . He knew right away that there was something special about Michael as a performer .
Quincy had a great night at the Grammy Awards Ceremony , sweeping all of the best categories and winning five of his 28 Grammys ! He ’ s also received 80 Grammy nominations !
INSTINCTS Quincy gives a lot of credit for his musical choices to his reliance on his instincts . I ’ d often ask him a question and he ’ d answer that he really didn ’ t know , saying that he trusted his instincts . His engineer , Bruce Swedien , also told me the same answer for certain questions . I pressed both for a more detailed response but they both stuck with the “ instincts ” response . I put a lot of thought into this concept . I eventually concluded that certain things that we do become so etched in our soul that they don ’ t require thought — they just require action or reaction . If someone throws a ball at your face , you reach up instantly to try to block it or catch it . There ’ s no thought involved . Quincy has music etched in his soul . He responds effortlessly and without delay to produce the best music possible — instinctively .
SPIRITUALITY Though he ’ s not known to be a born again Christian or anything , Quincy Jones is an intensely spiritual man . Quincy says that he goes into every production completely prepared for what he thinks should happen . All the charts are done and the framework is set . Then he “ leaves room for God to walk through the studio .” Listen to Quincy ’ s words from Q on Producing :
“ I think music is the word of God . I really do . You can ’ t taste it , you can ’ t touch it , you can ’ t see it , and you can ’ t smell it ; all you do is feel it . I think it ’ s the most powerful of all the arts . There are techniques for creating counterpoint , harmony , and so on , but melody comes straight from God — straight from God ! There ’ s no technique or science for that …
“ Listen to God ’ s whispers . I honestly feel that we are a terminal for our higher power . You might say we ’ re a vehicle or an instrument for a higher power . When we write or play music , we ’ re being used by that higher power . Music comes through you , not from you . Sometimes I ’ ve felt it physically . If you believe that music is all about you , then you ’ re not going to do it for very long .
“ You need to trust the whispers of God . Victor Young and Alfred Newman used to tell me , ‘ Don ’ t ever look back . Just write and turn the page and keep going …’ We ’ re 88 percent subconscious mind and 12 percent conscious mind . It ’ s really all about intuition , our subconscious , and our ability to hear the whispers . Our conscious mind is full of it , because it ’ s all about making judgments like , ‘ Oh , this is gonna be great ,’ or ‘ People are going to hate this ,’ and all that kind of stuff . It ’ s