My daddy was a carpenter that worked with the Jones boys, who are the most notorious in America. The black gangsters, you know, they were no joke. And he was their master carpenter. He used to build their homes, and… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
My father was a carpenter, a very good carpenter. He also worked for the Jones boys. They were not family members, we weren't related at all. They started the policy racket in Chicago, and they had the five and dime… — Quincy Jones Copy Share Image
It's amazing how much trouble you can get in when you don't have anything else to do. — Quincy Jones Copy Share
It's easy to get next to music theory, especially between your peers and music classes and so forth. You just pay attention. I had… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
It slaps your dignity just right. I loved the idea of these proud, dignified black men, and I saw the older ones wounded, and… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
I was inspired by a lot of people when I was young. Every band that came through town, to the theater, or the dance… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
“The tragedy of Tupac is that his untimely passing is representative of too many young black men in this country…If we had lost Oprah… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
Thank God, 50 years ago I learned that our entire business is all based on two things; a great song and a great story.… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
Sidney Poitier and Sidney Lumet were instrumental in helping me get started as the first black composer to get name credit for movie scores. — Quincy Jones Copy Share
A person's age can be determined by the degree of pain he experiences when he comes in contact with a new idea. — Quincy Jones Copy Share
I met Ray Charles at 14, and he was 16. But he was like a hundred years older than me. — Quincy Jones Copy Share
I got to trumpet, finally. That's why I love to write for brass, and [Count] Basie and [Frank] Sinatra and all that stuff, 'cause… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
I'm never in my life going to do a record that's a tribute to myself. I don't need it. — Quincy Jones Copy Share
I look back and say, "This must have been somebody else." I am not going to tell you that when I was 4, I… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
I was reading Omar Khayyam, Kahlil Gibran, Rumi, L. Ron Hubbard, all sorts of philosophy. Bebop cats are like that. Curious. I wanted to… — Quincy Jones Copy Share
