Jamie Cullum has reflected on the “incredible talent” and “charisma and passion” of Quincy Jones following his death aged 91.
Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said he died on Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles, California, surrounded by his relatives.
The family of the jazz musician and record producer, known for collaborating with music stars including Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, said they wish to “celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
Asked whether the words “legend” or “titan” would be overblown in describing the star, jazz-pop singer Cullum, 45, told BBC News: “This is one of the cases where it’s entirely justified.
“It’s amazing to think you’re talking about one person, that amount of achievement, that amount of enthusiasm, and creative explosions throughout his career.
“Not just in the early part, not just in the middle part, right up until the end of his life, he was still creating, still mentoring young artists, still creating ideas.
“And this was all, at the very bedrock of it, just grounded by this incredible talent and expertise that he honed over many years.”
Speaking about his personal connection to Jones, he said: “I was actually very lucky to meet him quite a few times in my career, at the Montreux Jazz Festival, which he used to go to every year and just support all the artists.
“Not only would he perform there over the years, he would just be sitting side stage, not only the big gigs, but the little ones as well, checking out the artists, checking out who was coming through, who the new talents were.
My Celestial twin Quincy was a titan in the musical world. He was a wonderful and unique human being, lucky to have known him.
— Michael Caine (@themichaelcaine) November 4, 2024
“I got the great opportunity to interview him for Radio 2 in his house in Los Angeles, and chatted to him all afternoon about his career.
“And it was just amazing to be in the presence of that much charisma and passion, just completely undimmed by time or any kind of cynicism.”
Also paying tribute on Monday was British actor Sir Michael Caine, who said in a post to X, formerly Twitter: “My Celestial twin Quincy was a titan in the musical world. He was a wonderful and unique human being, lucky to have known him.”
DJ David Guetta described Jones as a “legend” and recalled meeting him at the Grammys.
On Instagram, he said: “Thank you, Quincy, for all you’ve given us. Your legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists to come.”
US actor Colman Domingo said he was “so thrilled to meet Mr American Music” in a post to his social media, and added that he “kneeled because he was a King”.
Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers, who was friends with Jones, shared a video that said “Rest In Power Quincy Jones. The Greatest of All Time”.
A post to Bafta’s X page said: “Alongside an illustrious career in popular music, Jones also composed a huge number of film soundtracks including The Italian Job and turned his hand to producing for screen with The Colour Purple and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”
Born on March 14 1933 in Chicago and raised in Seattle, Washington, Jones began studying trumpet while in junior high school and sang in a gospel quartet at the age of 12.
He started arranging and recording for artists including Ray Charles and Dinah Washington by the mid 1950s.
Jones turned his attention to film scores and co-produced Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, which starred Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.
He also helped to launch and executive produced hit US sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, starring Will Smith.
In 1989 he had made waves with his landmark album, Back On The Block, which was named album of the year at the 1990 Grammy Awards.
Earlier in the year, Jones was announced as the recipient of an honorary Oscar at this year’s Governors Awards, taking place later this month.
The jazz musician earned a total of seven Oscar nominations for his work on movies that included neo-noir crime film In Cold Blood (1967) and The Color Purple (1985).
In his lifetime, the music star won an Emmy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a Tony and 28 Grammys.
He is one of the few people to have earned non-competitive EGOT status, a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, where one of the awards was honorary or non-competitive.
Jones also collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, as well as the “King of Pop”, Jackson, on his albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad.
