Obituary: Quincy Jones

 Obituary:  Probably the big story of  today, besides it being the last day before the U.S. general election, was the death of famed music producer Quincy Jones, who passed away at the age of 91.  He was a major figure in American popular music.

Snip:

Born March 14, 1933, to Sarah and Quincy Delight Jones, he and his younger brother, Lloyd, grew up in gang-riddled Great Depression Chicago. His mother suffered from mental illness and was institutionalized when he was 5, and his father moved the family to Bremerton, Washington.

When he was 11, Jones broke into the Armory recreation center in Bremerton to steal food. Inside, he found an upright piano. As he would later say in interviews, this was the moment that led him from a childhood of petty crime to a life of music.

His chance encounter with the piano led Jones to try a medley of instruments before settling on the trumpet. By age 14, he was playing the club circuit with 16-year-old friend Ray Charles, freewheeling from jazz to big band to bebop. After high school, Jones toured the world with jazz greats Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie.

He worked with many of the major figures in Americab popular music. He also had been married for quit a few years to Peggy Lipton before they split in 1990. She died five years ago. Quincy Jones died yesterday. ______________________________