Friday, October 25, 2013

Quincy Jones

I recently atteded a lecture by Charles Fox.  Mr Fox does backround music for feature films.  He talked of the intracacies of coordinating sound and mood with the action on the screen.

Fox also composes serious music and popular songs such as "Killing Me Softly With You Smile".

In the course of his presentation he mentioned his long association and friendship with Quincy Jones

who did arranging for some of the leading lights of popular music such as Frank Sinatra.

My mind went back to my college days and meeting a Quincy Jones.  I wondered if it was the same one.

Yesterday it was confirmed by my mailman.

It was about 1950.  I was having a late lunch at the fraternity house at the University  of Washington sitting oposite a frat brother who had been a music major at Garfield High School in Seattle.

The mailman entered the front door to drop off mail for the residents.  The brother jumped up to greet him and invited him to join us for a cup of coffee.

The name Quincy Jones stuck in my mind.  He spoke of being a substitute mail deliverer to finance his further music study.

He was asingned to the U. area for that date.  He said he preferred the residential areas especially the suburban tracts.

He said that there if an attractive housewife came out to get the mail he would tell her that if she would put on a pot of coffee he would speed up his deliveries and and be back to share a cup with her.

He said he was having surprising success with this ploy.

I asked my mailman yesterday if he might know if it was The well known Quincy Jones.

Hi reply was that it was, "Part of the postman's lore" that the famous musician had serve in their service.

Yes I had spent my moment with a person of greatness.



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