Quincy Jones' Finest Hour

Performer: Quincy Jones
Artist: Dinah Washington; Sarah Vaughan; Phil Woods; Benny Golson; Thad Jones; Freddie Hubbard; Paul Chambers; Kenny Clarke
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Quincy Jones (conductor); Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross (vocals); Jerome Richardson (alto & tenor saxophones, flute, alto flute, woodwinds); Phil Woods, Frank Wess (alto saxophone, woodwinds); Lucky Thomson, Benny Golson, Zoot Sims, Oliver Nelson (tenor saxophone); Art Farmer, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry, Thad Jones, Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); Julius Watkins (French horn); Urbie Green, Curtis Fuller, J.J. Johnson (trombone); Herbie Hancock (acoustic & electric pianos); Hank Jones, Lalo Schifrin (piano); Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall (guitar); Paul Chambers, Richard Davis, Milt Hinton, Ray Brown (bass); Charli Persip, Kenny Clarke, Osie Johnson (drums). Producers include: Quincy Jones, Creed Taylor, Bob Thiele. Compilation producer: Bryan Koniarz. Recorded between 1956 and 1978. Includes liner notes by Michael Ullman. Digitally remastered by Jeff Willens (Universal Mastering Studios-East). This is part of the Verve Finest Hour series. Part of Verve's FINEST HOUR reissue campaign, this 2000 compilation covers some of the same material as previous Verve reissues like COMPACT JAZZ and JAZZ ROUND MIDNIGHT, but it also focuses on an under-explored area of Jones's long and varied career, his '60s soundtrack work. Jones's '60s material got an unexpected boost in 1996, when Mike Myers's AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY used Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova," an insistently catchy cross between Cannonball Adderley and Martin Denny, as its theme, but Jones was not just a composer of memorable novelties. His theme for the lacerating Rod Steiger drama THE PAWNBROKER is a dark-hued, moody gem, for example. Of the more familiar tracks, Jones's classic big band treatment of Bobby Timmon's "Moanin'" and the Sarah Vaughan vocal version of "That Midnight Sun Will Never Set" are the highlights. Longtime fans will have heard most of this stuff before, but for once, the title of the collection is not far from the truth.

Quincy Jones has been one of the most influential and respected figures in music since the 1950s. His gifts as an arranger and producer have brought him a great deal of success including multi-platinum albums by Michael Jackson, his own high-profile label (Qwest), and magazine (Vibe). His endeavors into straight jazz recording are relatively few, but they bore some great fruit in the late '50s and early '60s.

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