I started imagining this whole different world. It was a society of musicians, a family I hoped I could belong to one day.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the longing for connection and belonging within a community of like-minded individuals, particularly in the realm of music.
Quincy Jones expresses his desire to be part of a close-knit community that understands and shares his passion for music. This quote reveals how imagination can create a sense of belonging and how one can dream of finding their place in a world where they feel accepted and appreciated for their talents.
In practice
During my speech about the power of creativity, I quoted Quincy Jones to illustrate the importance of belonging in the arts.
Just blow in it and sound bad for about a year and then make it sound a little bit better, and you get a little band together, and then you get a few jobs. You take four guys that sound half bad, but if they're 25 percent each, they can give 100 percent, you know?
Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.
When you produce an album, you're dealing with it theatrically. It has to have a structure, and the inner response to that is that the ear loves it.
You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God.
I got a scholarship to Seattle University and I was writing arrangements for singers and everybody. But the music course was too dry and I really wanted to get away from home.
I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it's not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.
In 1939, a newspaper ran a competition for the first load of boys off to war to pick their favourite singer. They chose me from my radio broadcasts. That's when I became known as the 'forces' sweetheart.'
The fans are the biggest reason we do what we do.
It's a gift, and a blessing, just to have a voice. And I'm proud that people do appreciate it, you know?
I've never mastered the guitar. Either I was playing it, or it was playing me; it depends how you look at it. As a kid, the only things I had to do was go to school, do my homework, and play guitar.
I'm never gonna stop music, it's like air to me.
This is our bandstand. If you don't want to play, get up off the instrument and leave.
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