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Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits (1963)

Where the lyrics of Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits take you, and where it was really made.

This 1963 album by Quincy Jones consists of songs that had been hits for other musicians.

Key places

Recording at A&R Studios, New York City (1963)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded at A&R Studios in New York City on April 9, 10, and 11, 1963, with Phil Ramone as engineer. The map point is set at the city center, not at the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits is an album by Quincy Jones
• The album consists of songs that had been hits for other musicians
• Released by Mercury in 1963
• Featured soloists include Joe Newman, Zoot Sims, and Phil Woods
• The record runs twelve tracks, each between 2:35 and 3:30 long

Background

• The album dates from 1963, when Quincy Jones was working with a studio big band
• Critic Scott Yanow described Jones's music that year as being at a crossroads
• The repertoire includes Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man, Paul Desmond's Take Five, and Antonio Carlos Jobim's Desafinado
• Other tracks come from Jimmy Smith, Vince Guaraldi, Ernest Gold, and Dave Brubeck

Recording

• Recorded monaurally and stereophonically on April 9, 10, and 11, 1963
• The session took place at A&R Studios in New York City
• Phil Ramone worked as engineer
• The personnel list is long, covering saxophones, trumpets, trombones, french horns, and a rhythm section
• Named players include Clark Terry and Joe Newman on trumpet, Kenny Burrell and Jim Hall on guitar, and Milt Hinton on bass

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born March 14, 1933 in Chicago; died November 3, 2024 in Los Angeles at age 91.
• American record producer, musician and composer; a career spanning seven decades.
• Received 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award; seven Academy Award nominations.
• Began as a jazz arranger and conductor in the 1950s, touring with Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie.
• Produced all four million-selling singles for Lesley Gore in the early-to-mid 1960s, including "It's My Party".
• Arranged and conducted for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and others.
• Scored The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night, The Italian Job and The Color Purple.
• Produced Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad.
• Produced and conducted "We Are the World" (1985) to raise famine relief for Ethiopia.
• Founded Qwest Productions and later Qwest TV, a jazz subscription video service.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released by Mercury in 1963
• Recorded at A&R Studios in New York City on April 9, 10, and 11, 1963
• Contains twelve songs that had been hits for other musicians

Reappraisal

• Scott Yanow of AllMusic wrote that by 1963 Quincy Jones's music was at a crossroads
• According to Yanow, the work was still jazz-oriented, but the studio big band was clearly aimed at selling records rather than playing creative jazz
• Yanow noted that the performances all clock in around three minutes
• He wrote that the jazz players take solos that often only count as cameos
• His verdict: 'Pleasant but not particularly substantial music'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Watermelon Man was written by Herbie Hancock and appears among the twelve tracks
• Take Five by Paul Desmond is included in the track listing
• Desafinado by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonça is one of the covered songs
• Back at the Chicken Shack by Jimmy Smith is part of the set
• Bossa Nova U.S.A. by Dave Brubeck closes the track listing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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