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It’s nearly not possible to actually pay homage to an artist with the breadth of a profession that Quincy Jones had earlier than he died in 2024 of pancreatic most cancers. However the legend nonetheless deserves higher than he’s gotten on the final two main award exhibits.
The most recent occasion was on Sunday when the Academy Awards commissioned Queen Latifah for a tribute. Latifah was launched by Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg, who co-starred in The Colour Purple, which Jones scored and co-produced. She carried out “Ease On Down The Street,” a track from the 1974 movie The Wiz that Jones produced for Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. Engaged on that movie is when Jones met a 12-year-old Michael Jackson for the primary time, in order that track is a stable alternative. And Latifah was an honest choice as properly: she appeared on Jones’ 1995 album Q’s Jook Joint, she portrayed the title character within the 2015 tv particular The Wiz Reside!, and he or she has an under-acknowledged singing voice that may very well be well-suited for a efficiency like this. On paper, this might have been the muse for a becoming tribute for Quincy.
However Latifah was on stage for lower than three minutes. Granted, the Academy Awards have honored Quincy Jones earlier than — with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994, and an Honorary Award at this 12 months’s ceremony. Winfrey and Goldberg’s introduction did give extra details about his illustrious profession and his seven Oscar nominations, however a greater look might have been a medley of a number of songs.
Then once more, a medley isn’t a assure of success both. When the Grammys honored Quincy Jones a number of weeks in the past, the outcome was sporadic: the love and respect from Cynthia Erivo, Stevie Surprise, and Herbie Hancock shined of their performances, whereas Lainey Wilson, Jacob Collier, and (surprisingly) Janelle Monae’s segments missed their marks. Social media customers expressed their disdain about each the Oscars and the Grammys performances, even whereas empathizing with how tall of a job it’s.
Finally, paying tribute to Quincy Jones is nearly not possible. He’s actually peerless relating to longevity, versatility, and accomplishments — over the course of a 73-year profession, he labored with Frank Sinatra, Rely Basie, Michael Jackson, and seemingly everybody in between, whereas composing scores for important movies equivalent to Chilly Blood, The Pawnbroker, and In The Warmth of the Evening. He’s basically a complete establishment of music himself, so one track or medley received’t do the trick, even when the track decisions are nice or the performances are spotless.
The closest tribute that has been created to his profession is the 2018 Netflix documentary Quincy, which had the possibility to take its time to inform his story. You may’t rush by means of a seven-decade story of weathering racism, evolving musically, and continuously creating classics one after one other. As one X person mentioned, Quincy Jones wants a full, two-hour particular to pay him his correct respect. He’s in a league of his personal, and the tribute must be as properly.
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