*From a strictly musical perspective, what have you done that you’re most proud of?*
That anything I can feel, I can notate musically. Not many people can do that. I can make a band play like a singer sings. That’s what arranging is, and it’s a great gift. I wouldn’t trade it for shit.
I recently watched "The Greatest Night in Pop" about the "We Are The World" recording, and I came away with even more huge mad props for Quincy Jones. The ability to arrange all these superstar musicians with insanely different voices into one cohesive, melodic song is amazing. Not to mention that corralling all these diva personalities makes cat herding look like a cake walk.
What a fucking flex lol. I have rudimentary arranger skills, enough to understand the pain of simply not being capable of expressing something I can feel/hear internally. He really could do that on a level that very few people ever have been able to. Legend.
I looked this up on YouTube. It seems a bit of a non-controversy with Quincy criticising Ringo's skills and Paul's bass playing. Comparing a virtuoso arranger and a band whose main strength was their song writing skills is a bit of a non starter honestly.
That anything I can feel, I can notate musically. Not many people can do that. I can make a band play like a singer sings. That’s what arranging is, and it’s a great gift. I wouldn’t trade it for shit.
https://www.vulture.com/article/quincy-jones-in-conversation...