PRE-ORDER NOW FROM VINYL ME, PLEASE

Following the recent announcement of an Anthology box set for the Philadelphia International Records, record club Vinyl Me, Please has turned its attention to one of music's most famous multi-hyphenate talents: Quincy Jones.  The multi-instrumentalist-composer-producer-arranger-conductor's credits are too numerous to mention, but VMP's Anthology - due in January 2022 - provides a career overview bookended by two of his most acclaimed jazz recordings.

The 12-LP box set The Story of Quincy Jones Anthology is produced in cooperation with Quincy Jones Productions and is cross-licensed from labels including Universal and Warner.  The box contains newly remastered versions of the following albums:

• Quincy Jones, This Is How I Feel About Jazz (ABC-Paramount, 1957);
• Frank Sinatra, Sinatra at The Sands (Reprise, 1966, 2 LPs);
• Quincy Jones, Walking in Space (A&M, 1969);
• Quincy Jones, Body Heat (A&M, 1974);
• The Wiz: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Motown/MCA, 1978, 2 LPs);
• Quincy Jones, The Dude (A&M, 1981);
• Quincy Jones, Back on the Block (Qwest/Warner Bros., 1989, 2 LPs); and
• Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, Live at Montreux (Warner Bros., 1993, 2 LPs).

These eight albums encompass the range of Jones' talents from his ABC-Paramount debut as a leader (featuring various groupings of musicians from nonet to big band) to his triumphant stand arranging and conducting The Count Basie Orchestra for Frank Sinatra at Las Vegas' Sands, subsequent funk/soul/jazz excursions for A&M Records, his soundtrack adaptation of Charlie Smalls' score to Broadway's The Wiz starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson,  the all-star Back on the Block (including the final studio recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan), and his live teaming with Miles Davis that persuaded the trumpeter to return to Gil Evans' lush orchestrations.

Certainly, there are major omissions (his albums with Michael Jackson chief among them, followed by his soundtrack to The Color Purple, and collaborations with such diverse luminaries as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Brothers Johnson, Peggy Lee, Lesley Gore, and Andy Williams, just to name a few) but the lavish Anthology offers a deep dive into his rich discography.

The first six albums are AAA-mastered from tape, and the final two are mastered from the best-available digital sources, with lacquers cut by Ryan Smith and Barry Grint.  The first edition of the box is limited to 1,000 copies on 180-gram colored vinyl pressed at GZ.  As per VMP's fashion, it's accompanied by a podcast series guiding listeners through each album as well as a physical 32-page booklet of liner notes penned by jazz historian Ashley Kahn.  The set has been designed by Mathieu Bitton and features foil-stamped imagery of Jones.  Lastly, with the purchase of The Story of Quincy Jones Anthology, listeners will receive a free 3-month access pass to Qwest TV, a subscription on-demand video service created by Jones. Qwest TV currently offers 24-hour programming including over 1,300 concerts, interviews, and documentaries.

The Story of Quincy Jones Anthology is available for pre-order now at this link to both VMP members and non-members; members will receive a discount.  The box is due to ship in January 2022.​