Stevie Wonder pays tribute to Quincy Jones

The influence of Quincy Jones, who died on Sunday, can be heard in virtually every genre of music. In the music of Stevie Wonder – who grew up listening to Jones' own records and worked with Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and others – Jones' influence is felt most strongly in the way Wonder arranges his music and in the verve his singing.

Jones and Wonder have worked together several times, including on productions for Donna Summer, Michael Jackson and USA for Africa, but Wonder still marvels at the times Jones recorded his songs – including “You've Got It Bad, Girl”, a Wonder song Jones cut in 1973. “Hearing him sing 'You've Got It Bad' is mind-blowing because I never imagined Quincy Jones singing my song,” Wonder says Rolling Stone. “The more I talk about it, the more emotional I get. I think, 'Wow, I'm so grateful to the Most High, the God I serve, for the opportunity to get to know this great man and his heart.'”

Here Wonder remembers Jones in his own words.

I met Quincy at the Apollo Theater when I was 14. I heard, “Oh, Quincy Jones is here.” So I ran downstairs and met him. I knew him from his music, from the work he had done with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and so on and so forth. I had many questions. “Does Ray Charles read Braille music?” Does Ray Charles do this and that?” I was so curious.

Losing Quincy is beyond heartbreaking. While we lose great people in various genres of music, I know that the orchestra in this wonderful world beyond here – musicians, singers, dancers, actors, actresses, producers, all the people we have met on this journey – is something incredible. far more than we can even imagine. It's just wonderful to have what we have to motivate young people to understand the greatness of music and its possibilities. I'm just disappointed he wasn't here longer.

Quincy spread his message of music and love as long as he was in our presence. Apparently he was the one who really orchestrated We Are the World, putting it all together, bringing people together, and pushing the whole “leave your ego at the door” idea. The whole deal was incredible.

He touched on every single genre. It brings tears to my heart to think about how and where he came from and to know that he has grown through it all. When I look at life every day and think about how ignorant and irresponsible people who don't understand it can be, I'm motivated to keep talking about life, singing about it, and writing about it, because that's what Quincy did. He made contact with people with great talents and was able to get the best out of them.

The night before election day we lose Quincy Jones. For me this is a message: “People, wake up. Get it together. I was here to spread a message, a motivation.”

Quincy's foundation was love. His foundation was the gift that was given to him. His foundation was the relationship he had with Ray Charles and everyone he worked with. There are so many voices that he introduced to us. You can hear it in Minnie Riperton and the way he brought different people together. My first wife, Syreeta, she sings some of the songs he did with the Brothers Johnson; you can hear them in the background. The song “Everything Must Change” has so many great voices. And Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, just so many great people he made music with. His children shared in the reservoir of incredibility he gave us.

I think whether you're working with new technology, a politician or a teacher, just learn the lessons from how we put music together – and most importantly, how Quincy Put it together – then you can say, “Let me try this.”

When I started working [producers] Bob Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil I was able to do things with the Moog synthesizer and the Arp to arrange music. My curiosity was, “How can I do more of this and how does it work?” I was like a painter with different colors to create the different music I made. And that's because of what I've heard from Quincy, the things he did with Count Basie or the different orchestras he worked with. Those were my motives.

The most important thing Quincy taught me was, “Don't stop until you know you have it the way you want it, until it feels right, until it feels good for you.” He said: “Don’t settle for your singing being just okay; Make sure you give it everything you have. Don't be afraid to learn what you don't know.” So he was also motivated by the idea of ​​giving and getting the best – not because of the money, but just because of the art. You can look back and hear all of that when you listen to his music.

The most important thing Quincy taught me was, “Don’t stop until you know you have it the way you want it, until it feels right.”

It was great working with him on his music and recording with him and Donna Summer, but “We are the World” has to be at the top of the list of things we've worked on together. The most beautiful thing was seeing all of us as artists and musicians coming together and singing this song that would help the people of Ethiopia. And I just want to clarify one thing about We Are the World, because people keep getting it wrong: I never felt like the people of Ethiopia spoke Swahili. I knew they spoke Amharic.

When I recorded “Just Good Friends” with Michael Jackson and Quincy, I had heard the song and the idea for the song was fun. It was just a wonderful moment. When you are in the rhythm of the music, try to do your best. The good thing is that it doesn't feel like work, but you can definitely do it. So that was cool.

Years later there was a record where me, Ray Charles and Bono played “Let the Good Times Roll.” That was fun. The three of us weren't together, they played our roles separately. But Quincy put it together as if we were there at the same time. And that's kind of awesome. Often it's no different than making a film. You have to make it feel like it was right there and then. And he managed to put the pieces together and have a great moment together.

The fact that he left us such great music and such great production and so many things that people of all ethnicities appreciate… You can listen to all of these great things that he did and say, “Wow.” With At the age of 91, he took a decisive step forward in his life.

For the last few years I've wanted to do a harmonica jazz project with him. I wanted to do the old and new standards. We couldn't do this, but that doesn't mean I won't do it. To honor what we talked about, I'm going to collaborate with different people that I think are great and do things like that.

Quincy should be remembered as one of God's greatest gifts to the world. He should be remembered as a star that we will keep burning for as long as we exist as humans, carrying on the messages and music he created. If I could have chosen my final words to Quincy before he made this transition, I would have to borrow something Duke Ellington would always say: “Quincy, I love you madly.”