Charles and Jones

“Ray Charles is a giant. He was one of my mentors. He would write arrangements in Braille, and translate it to me. At 14 and 16 we used to sit in Seattle on those rainy days and dream about what would happen.” -Quincy Jones

Who said it

Quincy Jones is one of the most successful African American musicians in history. Jones is an award-winning conductor, composer, trumpeter, musical arranger and record producer. Jones holds a record 79 Grammy nominations and 27 Grammies won. Aside from that, Jones has also worked with several successful artists, such as Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and film soundtracks for Steven Spielberg. Jones has achieved phenomenal success as a record producer, selling millions of records worldwide. Aside from that, Jones is also a well-known philanthropist. A good illustration is the record “We Are the World” where Jones solicited the help of several artists for a collaboration where the proceeds would go to aid for the famine in Ethiopia. What it means

As great as Jones is, he still considered Ray Charles as his mentor. Now that says a lot about the talent of Charles as a musician to have gained the respect of Jones. And that just points to one thing: everybody needs a little inspiration. No matter how talented or great a person might be, everyone needs a person to show us something wonderful and inspiring that can make us dream and work hard for our aspirations. For Quincy Jones, that person is Ray Charles.