Quincy Jones, the great bandleader, arranger and trumpeter, was merely 25 years old when he decided to settle in a city with a taste for jazz that was close to cult-worship: Paris. Quincy studied under Nadia Boulanger and became a regular figure in Saint Germain-des-Pres; he worked for Eddie Barclay, and also led sessions for Henri Salvador and The Double Six, who devoted a whole album to Quincy’s compositions. With the aid of Frank Tenot and Daniel Filipacchi, in 1960 he set up his own Big Band with 17 American musicians in a venture that was short-lived despite the immense artistic quality of the formation. The live album they recorded shows all the vitality and genius of the young arranger who, in only a few years, went on to become an essential figure in 20th century music, and its greatest pop producer thanks to his association with the legendary Michael Jackson. Patrick FReMEAUX
