Q's Jook Joint

Performer: Quincy Jones
Artist: Stevie Wonder; Ray Charles; Bono; Phil Collins; Heavy D; Take 6; Herbie Hancock; Gloria Estefan; Barry White; Chaka Khan
Engineer: Francis Buckley; Al Schmitt
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Quincy Jones (programming); John Clayton (conductor); Funkmaster Flex, Bono, Queen Latifah, Tone Loc, Nancy Wilson, Tamia, Brandy, Heavy D, Brian McKnight, Rachelle Ferrell, Mr. X, Melle Mel, Coolio, Yo-Yo, Chaka Khan, Charlie Wilson, Shaquille O'Neal, Luniz, Phil Collins, Gloria Estefan, Warren Wiebe, R. Kelly, Ron Isley, Aaron Hall, Naomi Campbell, Ray Charles, Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Babyface, Barry White, Siedah Garrett, Patti Austin, Will Wheaton (vocals); Toots Thielemans, Stevie Wonder (vocals, harmonica); Mervyn Warren (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer); Kid Capri, LL Cool J, Coko, Lester Young, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Marlon Brando, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, Lelee, Charlie Parker (spoken vocals); James Moody (spoken vocals, saxophone); Greg Phillinganes (spoken vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, programming); "Wah Wah" Watson (talk box, guitar); Pete Christlieb (tenor saxophone, saxophone); Jeff Clayton, Tom Scott, Jack Nimitz, Fred Jackson, Jr., Joshua Redman, Danny Higgins, Kim Hutchcroft, Larry Williams, Brandon Fields, Kirk Whalum (saxophone); Gary Grant, "Snooky" Young, Chuck Findley, Oscar Brashear, Ray Brown (trumpet); Jerry Hey (trumpet, programming); Bill Reichenbach, George Bohanon, Charlie Loper, Reggie Young (trombone); Greg Williams, Bob Watt, Rick Todd, Brad Warnaar (French horn); Tommy Johnson (tuba); Hubert Laws (flute); Herbie Hancock, David Foster (keyboards); Rod Temperton (keyboards, percussion); QDIII, Randy Kerber, Rob "Phydeaux" Hoffman (keyboards, programming); Paul Jackson, Jr., Grant Geissman, Stan The Guitar Man, Michael Thompson, Keith Henderson (guitar); Sekou Bunch, Neil Stubenhaus (bass); John Robinson (drums, programming); Edwin Bonilla, Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Steve Porcaro, Erik Hanson, Simon Franglen, Ian Underwood, Peter Mokran, Mark Hammond (programming); Alex Brown, Bridgette Bryant, Luis Miguel, The Willie "Cognac" Norwood United Children's Choir, Lisa Taylor (background vocals); James Flamberg, Steve Dewey, Andrew Scheps. Take 6: Mark Kibble, Claude McKnight, Joey Kibble, Alvin Chea, David Thomas, Cedric Dent (vocals). Portrait: Michael Angelo Saulsberry, Eric Kirkland, Kurt Jackson, Irving Washington III (vocals). SWV: Cheryl Gamble, Tamara Johnson, Leanne Lyons (vocals). Cast of "Stomp": Luke Cresswell, Fiona Wilkes, Carl Smith, Fraser Morrison, Everett Bradley (percussion). Style: Reginald Bell, Rodney Chambers, Richard Redd, Andre Scott (background vocals). Producers: Quincy Jones (tracks 1-4, 6-10, 12-15); Quincy Jones, QDIII (track 5); Quincy Jones, R. Kelly (track 11). Principally recorded at Westlake Audio and Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, California. Includes liner notes by Quincy Jones, Graeme Boone and James Clyde Sellman. Q'S JOOK JOINT won a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. It was nominated for six other Grammys. Tamia's performance of "You Put A Move On My Heart" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance; the same song, written by Rod Temperton, was nominated for Best R&B Song. "Slow Jams," performed by Babyface, Tamia, Portrait and Barry White, and "Stomp," performed by the cast of the play "Stomp" with Mr. X, Melle Mel, Coolio, Yo-Yo, Chaka Khan, Charlie Wilson, Shaquille O'Neal and Luniz, were both nominated for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "Rock With You," performed by Heavy D, was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance. Quincy Jones and Sam Nestico's arrangement of "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" was nominated for Best Instrumental Arrangement With Accompanying Vocal. During his 50 years in the music business, Quincy Jones has seemingly done it all. He was an arranger for Count Basie as a teenager, played trumpet behind Ella Fitzgerald in the '50s, and directed big bands for Frank Sinatra and others throughout. By providing Michael Jackson's THRILLER with its signature sound, Q also gained legendary status as a pop producer. Now, Jones celebrates his magnificent career on Q'S JOOK JOINT, whose title pays homage to the rural Southern establishments which gave birth to the blues and jazz (which, in turn, gave birth to virtually everything else). Rap, soul, pop and jazz get along famously at Quincy's fantasy night-spot. Witness Queen Latifah rhyming over Benny Golson's familiar "Killer Joe," or Phil Collins playing the crooner on Duke Ellington's "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me." And "Stomp," featuring Melle Mel, Coolio and Shaquille O'Neal, is as joyous as rap gets, combining the raw energy of hip-hop with the sophisticated arrangements of THRILLER and OFF THE WALL. In lesser hands, all this genre-crossing would be a well-meaning hodge-podge. Yet, Jones holds it together with his ability to make a track groove, no matter what the style. Whether it is the soaring lead trumpet line on "Let The Good Times Roll," or the ultra-smooth synth pads and drum programming that make Tamia's rendition of "You Put A Move On My Heart" swoon, Jones makes sure the emphasis never strays too far from making each track sizzle. The multi-talented Quincy Jones has excelled at idiomatic combinations in his albums since the '60s, when his mix-and-match soundtracks for television and films alerted everyone that he'd switched from a pure jazz mode to a populist trend. Q's Jook Joint blends the latest in hip-hop-flavored productions with sleek urban ballads, vintage standards, and derivative pieces; everything's superbly crafted, though few songs are as exciting in their performance or daring in their conception as past Jones epics like Gula Matari or the score from Roots. Still, you can't fault Jones for his choice of musical collaborators: everyone from newcomer Tamia to longtime stars like Ray Charles, rappers, instrumentalists, male and female vocalists, percussionists, and toasters. The CD really conveys the seamless quality one gets from attending a juke joint, though it lacks the dirt-floor grit or blues fervor of traditional Southern and chitlin circuit hangouts. But no one's more knowledgeable about the spectrum of African-American music, nor better able to communicate it via disc, than Quincy Jones. ~ Ron Wynn

Entertainment Weekly (11/17/95, p.79) - "Jones' `joint' is a big, clean house where bop begets rap begets soul, and all-stars like Bono, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles are bathed in swirly, studio-crafty splendor..." - Rating: B Down Beat (2/96, p.43) - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...an entertaining pop album that abounds with joyous feeling....there are several dozen singers and musicians....Yet everyone finds his or her place, stomping the grooves, sweetening the harmonies, swinging hard or just coolin' out..." Musician (1/96, p.95) - "...What makes this album work isn't who Q puts on the guest list, but what he does when they turn up....he's hardly repeating himself, as the hyper-energized `Stomp' and the sultry `Is It Love That We're Missing' make plain." NME (Magazine) (12/16/95, p.37) - 7 (out of 10) - "...tailor-made for star-spotters, ever ready to strain an ear in search of their favourite zillionaire....you can't really have this much quality on board and not occasionally sound sublime."

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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