On March 14th, 1933, seminal music producer, good friend of Ray Charles, jazz musician, composer, arranger, record label executive, 28-Time Grammy Award Winner, sideman, film producer, bandleader, trumpeter, and the man behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller Quincy Delight Jones Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois. Quincy's family moved from Chicago to Washington, and settled in Seattle. In his early teens, Q started playing trumpet with saxophonist Charles Taylor and working on his arrangement skills. When he was 14, he met Ray Charles. Ray was only 16-but a proficient musician nonetheless, who refused to let his blindness curb his musical abilities. Both were feeling the racial ‘pinch’ that was keeping them from certain opportunities; but Q saw Charles as an inspiration for overcoming those boundaries regardless of circumstance.
Q continued to play around town, and with Taylor throughout high school. After graduation, he enrolled at Seattle University, on a music scholarship, and played in the college band. He left Seattle in 1951, moved to Boston to attend Berklee, and joined Lionel Hampton’s band-as a trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and pianist. This is when his career took off-more so as a composer than a musician. Other jazz and pop artists began to notice the unique approach Q took when creating music. His legacy, since then, has been six decades worth of hit records-and 28 Grammys. Quincy Jones is 86 today.
| | |
On March 14th, 1934, jazz musician, trumpeter, composer, sideperson, arranger, pianist, bandleader, music educator, and jazz organist Shirley Scott was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. TOV covered this artist’s death in the March 10th post. Please refer to it for more information. Not enough can be said about Scott. She was Prestige Records’ first female pianist/organist (Hammon B-3), and one of few female bandleaders to release her own LPs. She also encouraged other female musicians, and the youth overall, to pursue their aspirations of being artists through her educational programs. Scott started out playing trumpet and piano as a child. She was heavily influenced by gospel and blues, which can be heard in her compositions.
During the early 1950s she began sitting in with touring jazz musicians that came to Philly. Word about her skills spread quickly, and Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis picked her up for his band as pianist and co-composer (while Scott was still in her teens). She made her recording debut, as a bandleader, in 1958 with Great Scott! on Prestige Records. That same year, she released another LP-Scottie-which showcased her composition skills. She continued to record and perform throughout the 1960s, married Stanley Turrentine, and worked with him until they divorced in 1971. She released six LPs during the 1970s-mostly soul & jazz, with a hard bop backdrop. Although she recorded less during the 80s and 90s, she appeared on over 75 albums-as a sideperson or bandleader between 1956 and 1992. She was 67 when she passed away.
| | |
On March 14th, 1989, the hip hop trio featuring (above-r to l) Posdnuos, Trugoy The Dove and P.A. Mase (Maseo)-De La Soul released their debut LP Three Feet High & Rising. The album was produced by Prince Paul of Stetsasonic, and was groundbreaking for a couple reasons. At the time, hip hop had a much harder edge (i.e. N.W.A., B.D.P., Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy, EPMD, & The Juice Crew were pretty much killing everyone). De La was totally different from all of that. The song titles, topics, lyrical content, skits, and samples were all obscure, unused and largely unheard. While Marley Marl was sampling James Brown, Prince Paul was sampling Steely Dan...
Secondly, the album and group had a concept, which was rare for hip hop at that time. They transformed the sampling pool and range of music that producers would use/interpolate. Their gear was different; and they had their own slang terms for things while using the current terminology. They clowned gold fronts, fat gold chains, and Kangols-which was the look at the time. They also made being different ok, for a lot of people that liked hip hop, but weren’t trying to be all 'thugged out' to represent the culture. Plug Tunin, Ghetto Thang, Eye Know, Take It Off, Buddy, Me Myself & I, DAISY Age, Jenifa Taught Me, & The Magic Number were the most notable songs off the album. Three Feet High & Rising won multiple awards, and is listed as one of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time by Rolling Stone Magazine.
| | |
HONORABLE MENTION: On March 14th, 1946, rock musician, bassist, singer, songwriter, member of The Leaves, The Turtles, and Mothers Of Invention-Jim Pons was born in Santa Monica, California. Pons played with all three bands from the late 50s to the early 70s. Some of his best work is with Frank Zappa, in the late 1960s.
Interesting Fact: Pons left music in 1973 to become a film and video director with The New York Jets football club. He worked for the team until he retiring in 2000. He’s 76 today.
Interesting Fact: Pons left music in 1973 to become a film and video director with The New York Jets football club. He worked for the team until he retiring in 2000. He’s 76 today.
On March 14th, 1969, legendary basketball player, sports personality, former UNLV Running Rebel, NY Knick, Charlotte Hornet, and two time National Junior College Player Of The Year-Larry Johnson (L.J.) was born in Tyler, Texas. He’s known for his college career with UNLV during their fierce rivalries with Duke in the early 1990s. He also gained a lot of notoriety for his years in the NBA as a Charlotte Hornet-where he won Rookie Of The Year, and played alongside Muggsy Bogues, Dell Curry (Steph's Dad), and Alonzo Mourning. His best years were with The Knicks, in my opinion. He played a hard-nosed style there. He’s 50 today.
On March 14th, 1969, Michael B. (Michael Bland), the drummer for Prince was born in Minneapolis, MN. Michael started on drums during his middle school years. Due to the booming music scene in the city from Prince’s mid 80s Purple Rain fame, Bland had several peers that played musical instruments. He formed various garage bands during high school, and started gigging around town. In 1988 he auditioned for a revamp of Prince’s new band that would be called The New Power Generation. He secured the spot, toured, and created music with him until 1996. Michael B. is 50 today.
On March 14th, 1972, we lost soul singer and songwriter-the lady that brought us the classic ballad-Hypnotized, Linda Jones. TOV covered the artist’s birthday in the December 14th post. Please refer to it for more information. The Newark, NJ native got her start in the church singing with her family’s gospel group-The Jones Singers. She used this gospel style in her secular music in later years, standing as a heavy influence for singers like Sam Cooke & Jerry Butler, who were somewhat intimidated to switch to popular music. She was 27 when she passed away.
For more information on any musician or event reviewed in posts, or for additional information on The Wandering Eyes Blog overall, use the search bar and search the artist or event using keywords. It’s like a Google search for the site. A myriad of information, covering several topics exists on this site going back to 2013 when it was created. PEACE