Purdue jazz honors one of the greatest - Quincy Jones
November 13, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The jazz version of the Renaissance man, Quincy Jones, has done it all. His career has encompassed the roles of composer, record producer, film producer, arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, TV producer, record company executive, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur. Saluting his genius, Purdue's jazz bands present "Quincy Delight Jones: An American Musical Legend" on Friday (Nov. 16).
The free concert begins at 8 p.m. in Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse on campus. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m.
"There are a lot of familiar tunes in this concert," says M.T. "Mo" Trout, who directs all the bands for the concert - the Purdue Jazz Band, American Music Repertory Ensemble and Lab Jazz Band.
Tunes like "The Best is Yet To Come," "Beat It," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Let the Good Times Roll," "For All We Know" and "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die," are among his popular songs.
Trout says the show will look at five different periods of Jones' career - when he led his own big band, when he helped make Michael Jackson into the superstar of the 1980s and his associations with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles.
Opening the program, the Lab Jazz Band's set focuses on Michael Jackson music, much of it from "Thriller."
When American Music Repertory Ensemble takes the stage, the focus changes to tunes that represent other high points in Jones' career. He won the first of his many Grammys in 1963 for his Count Basie arrangement of "I Can't Stop Loving You," which highlights the set. Coincidentally, that tune was on the first recording made by the Purdue Jazz Band in the 1980s.
The Purdue Jazz Band spotlights original music that he wrote and arranged for big band.
"Quincy Jones: An American Musical Legend" is sponsored by Purdue Bands & Orchestras, which offers a full season of free jazz, concert band and orchestra events.
Contact: Kathy Matter, 765-496-6785, kcmatter@purdue.edu
