I cannot claim to be a huge fan nor do I have much knowledge of his body of work. But I do know that he is up there with John Williams as a giant member of the wartime Jazz generation that made the music that nearly every citizen on the planet will hear almost daily throughout their lives.
Quincy Jones, Giant of American Music, Dies at 91 - The New York Times
I mostly knew about him from his association with Michael Jackson. I read a short bio about him today though and was stunned when I found out he won 28 Grammys.
For decades Quincy Jones was the music industry.
Wheels
I’ll say. Jazz is right up there as one of my favourite music genres and I thought I ‘knew’ Quincy Jones as a musician and producer. But I had no idea how ‘big’ he was until after reading some obit’s today.
He wrote and/or produced so much of the soundtrack of the late 20th century. You can’t realistically overstate his influence on the industry or the cultural landscape.
Yes, there are groups like The Beatles who influenced things indirectly by how and what they did on record inspiring others, but Jones directly influenced so much just far more quietly.