A Quincy Jones Connection

Deadmandeadman suggested I do a series on Quincy Jones. The problem with such an idea is, where do you even start? Well, one way to start is to draw musical connections to Quincy Jones that people might not know about. This is one of them.Quincy Jones is an enormous talent, and is gifted in so many areas, not the least of which is doing some impressive arrangements; a skill he honed while doing arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie's big band that toured the world on behalf of the US Department of State.One of the songs for which Quincy delivered the definitive arrangement is Benny Golson's Killer Joe. Manhattan Transfer used that arrangement as a template for their performance.And Manhattan Transfer have their share of fun with this. The first time I saw them perform this, Tim Hauser strutted on stage in a purple zoot suit, twirling a two-foot long watch chain, hat askew, shoulders hunched and lips pouted. It cracks me up every time I conjure up the image.But, you can listen to the Quincy Jones version that I've tagged for audio and compare it to the Manhattan Transfer performance. The similarities are remarkable.