Spanning 70 years and major roles as a musician, songwriter/composer, producer, arranger, entrepreneur and more, Quincy Jones’ career in music is unparalleled.

Jones – ‘Q’ to friends and associates, who died late on Sunday at the age of 91 – revolutionized the way audiences around the world heard popular music by erasing genre boundaries while playing on the free spirit of the jazz sounds of his beginnings. An ear for unique collaborations, excellent musicianship, daring studio techniques and groundbreaking integration of Latin American and African sounds into pop are just a few of his achievements.

Here are 15 of the most memorable moments from his incredible career:

Quincy Jones – “Boo’s Blues” (1957)
Jones’ first full-length album as a bandleader, conductor and arranger (not yet as a producer, that was Creed Taylor’s job), ‘This is How I Feel About Jazz’, is immediately a blueprint for Q’s entire career. On his bright, volatile composition ‘Boo’s Blues’, Q showed his penchant for neatly combining traditional jazz instruments with some of the best session cats of the time, including bassist Charles Mingus, flautist Herbie Mann and alto saxophonist Phil Woods. Jones also coolly reinterpreted a genre – the blues – as sneaky and sophisticated. This kind of idiom deconstruction and clarity of sound became a hallmark of Jones’ work from then on.

Ray Charles – “One Mint Julep” (1961)
While Jones’ tasty arrangement of Bobby Timmons’ blues-bopping “Moanin'” for his friend Ray is another example of his genre-bending sound, “One Mint Julep” takes the party one step further. Both songs are from Charles’ big band classic “Genius + Soul = Jazz.” But on “Julep,” Jones turns up the heat on Charles’ swinging Hammond B3 organ, cranks up the horn section (featuring trumpeter Clark Terry and trombonist Jimmy Cleveland) and gives the song a cha-cha-cha rhythm courtesy of drummer Roy Haynes. . “One Mint Julep” went to No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 8 on Billboard’s pop chart.

Dinah Washington – “Crazy for the Boy” (1961)
Jazz singer Dinah Washington’s interpretation of longing at a distance, written by Noël Coward in the early 1930s, was produced and arranged by Jones and played by his orchestra as something slower and more simmering than the usual 4/4 time signature. Taken to a walking 6/8 by Jones, Washington’s intentions became worse than “Mad,” and the stringed, lounge-style production has a sweetly sensual vibe. Quincy went on to arrange and produce titans like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Peggy Lee, but Dinah started it all. What a difference a change of pace can make…

Quincy Jones – “Soul Bossa Nova” (1962)
The cold Christmas of 1962 became even more intense when Jones composed and produced this sexy song for his album ‘Big Band Bossa Nova’ and its trend-conscious take on smooth Brazilian syncopation. What makes Jones’ version of the bossa nova special about his sound is his usual use of top-level jazz musicians (Lalo Schifrin plays piano, Rahsaan Roland Kirk plays flute) and a cuíca which creates that characteristic “giggle” at the beginning of the song. Of course, Mike Myers also gets pop-cultural credit for bringing Jones’ song into the 21st century with his use as the opening theme for “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” (following the Dream Warriors’ 1990 hit “My Definition”) ). of a Boombastic Jazz Style”, which featured heavy sampling).

Lesley Gore, “It’s My Party” (1963)
Sticking with his love of Latin percussion and cool hot brass, Jones – who not only produced the song but signed 16-year-old Gore to Mercury Records – created one of pop’s scariest teen hits. With its double-tracked vocals, hand claps, quirky chord changes, aggressive brass and infectious melody, ‘It’s My Party’ surpasses the sound wall of Spector’s girl group at its commercial peak.

Quincy Jones – “The Pawnbroker: Main Title” (1964)
Film director Sidney Lumet amplifies the raw story of a man trying to escape his horrors while imprisoned in a Nazi camp. Jones, the first score composer and arranger, suppressed his usual major chords and bright brassy jazz for something muted, moody, minor and impressionistic. . Most striking within Jones’ theme is the use of vibraphone against the melancholic strings of his orchestra.

Quincy Jones – “You Got It, Bad Girl” (1973)

When Quincy Jones got the funk on his album ‘You’ve Got It Bad Girl’, he got it (sorry) badly: the entire disc is filled with raunchy R&B, full of tight rhythms and sweet melodies. First, he made Lovin’ Spoonful’s soulful ’60s “Summer in the City” less dirty than deified by slowing it down, chilling it out and welcoming the lightest of Hammond organs and Valerie Simpson’s honeyed vocals into the proceedings. While the intro to this song was sampled by Eminem and the Roots, “The Streetbeater” has a completely different sphere of influence. Better known as the theme song to Redd Foxx’s NBC television show “Sanford and Son,” Jones propels Toots Thielemans’ raunchy honking harmonica, Dave Grusin’s electric piano and more cowbells than Will Ferrell’s Blue Oyster Cult imitation into the soundtrack stratosphere . Someone please remaster and re-release “You Got It Bad Girl” ASAP.

Quincy Jones – “Body Heat” (1974)
With this 1974 album and its sultry title track, Jones successfully navigated his way from sunny funk to the bluesy night of silent storm romance. Instead of opting for the plucked, plummy tone of 1970s R&B bass, Jones welcomed his old friend, jazz bassist Ray Brown, to the gig and gave this sweet noir ballad a smooth groove and a slow dancing kick . Singers Bruce Fisher and Leon Ware also gave the liquid “Body Heat” a breathy dose of heavy machismo and overheated whispering.

The Johnson Brothers – “Strawberry Letter #23” (1977)
When brothers Louis (bass) and George Johnson (guitar) worked on Chaka Khan’s sister Taka Boom’s demos, they never realized what would happen next when those songs ended up with Quincy Jones. He didn’t sign Boom, but had the brothers play on his soundtrack for the ABC TV miniseries ‘Roots’, welcomed them into his touring band and then produced their 1976 debut album ‘Look Out For #1′. That lost classic is fun, but 1977’s “Right on Time” is better, especially with the addition of the sparkling “Strawberry Letter #23.” Instead of sweetening Shuggie Otis’ near-hit, producer Jones keeps ’23’ raw, complex and galloping all the way to the powerful bass – adding magic with heavenly backing vocals and a psychedelic swirling guitar solo from jazz great Lee Ritenour.

Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell and Ted Ross – “A Brand New Day” (1978)
Producer Jones and Scarecrow Jackson may have laid the foundation for an unprecedented multiplatinum success when they collaborated on Sidney Lumet’s 1978 musical “The Wiz,” but the most cinematic song on the long, funky soundtrack was written by Luther Vandross. Here, in celebratory post-disco mode, Vandross’ epic songwriting and Jones’ glossy, French horn-filled production give this Yellow Brick Road track a solid gold lift.

Michael Jackson – “I Can’t Do Anything About It” (1979)
Picking out songs from Jones’ brilliant work with Michael Jackson is a thankless task, but here we’ll sidestep the obvious choices. In a manner similar to the aforementioned “A Brand New Day,” Jones brings in a singer-songwriter whose bridges and sighs have a signature feel tied to their author – Stevie Wonder’s subtle, complicated jazziness, those round chords and sweet ascension – and then lets Michael Jackson quietly let loose with each verse. It’s the slower, lighter side of ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’, but with the same kind of sensual insistence. Jones provides a rubbery synth line as Michael breathes heavily, squeaks, squeaks and hiccups to the delight of the soul.

Quincy Jones – “Ai No Corrida” (1981)
Jones’ 1981 solo album, “The Dude,” did a lot, including transforming singer James Ingram into a deep, sleek 1980s soul singing sensation with big ballads like “One Hundred Ways” and “Just Once.” But ‘Ai No Corrdia’ touches on Jones’ initial hallmarks of stabbing jazz bras and monstrous Latin percussion – and this time with an irresistible melody written by Chaz Jankel, the Brit who played guitar for Ian Dury and the Blockheads and also co- wrote “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” and “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick” with Dury.

Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean” (1982)
‘Thriller’, the Jackson-penned, mid-tempo first single from the best-selling solo artist album of all time, initially failed to grab the producer due to its long, anticipatory drum and bass intro. It clearly won him over.

Quincy Jones, Ray Charles and Chaka Khan – “I’ll Be Good to You” (1989)
Jones’ 1989 “Back on the Block” album was intended as a multi-genre look at who Q had been — and would become — after decades in the music business, with everyone from Big Daddy Kane to Ella Fitzgerald jamming was with their mentor. tracks touched by modern hip hop and New Jack Swing. Leave it to Jones’ oldest friend Ray Charles – with a wonderful assist from Chaka Khan – to mold an insanely lively R&B hit from a song written by Brothers Johnson. As a reward for this mixed bag of musicianship, “Back on the Block” won the 1991 Grammy Album of the Year award.

Queen Latifah, Nancy Wilson and Töne Löc – “Cool Joe, Mean Joe (Killer Joe)” (1995)
Jones’ 1995 artist album, “Q’s Jook Joint,” has a similar feel to “Back on the Block,” but deals more with the producer’s roots in jazz and bop. What better way to celebrate that return than to transform bop’s anthem, Benny Golson’s “Killer Joe,” into a melody-rich big band hip-hop track, complete with the divine Nancy Wilson, the gruff Töne Löc and the Queen herself. It’s Q at his most late masterful level.