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This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross. Today, we remember Quincy Jones. He died Sunday at the age of 91.

In his New York Times obit, music critic Ben Ratliff described Jones as one of the most powerful

forces in American popular music for more than a century. Jones started his career as a trumpeter in Lionelhampton's big band in the early 50s,

but he never became a noted instrumentalist.

What made him famous and wealthy was his work as an arranger, composer, and record producer,

work that spans from the big bands through bebop, pop, movie soundtracks, TV themes, and hip-hop. He arranged or produced

recordings for Sinatra, Ray Charles, Aretha, Dinah Washington, George Benson, and Ice-T,

and he produced the Michael Jackson albums, Off the Wall, Bad, and the best-selling album of all time,

Thriller. His music has been sampled in many hip-hop

recordings, and his 1962 recording, Sol Bossa Nova, was used as the theme to the Austin

Powers films. The multimedia company Quincy Jones Entertainment produced the sitcoms, The Fresh

Prince of Bel Air, in the house, and the sketch show Mad TV. I spoke with him in 2001,

after the release of his memoir, Q, and a four-cd box set by the same name of music featuring him

as a trumpeter, arranger, composer, or producer. We started with a sampling of tracks from that

collection. Another bride, another June, another sunny honeymoon,

another season, another reason for making whoopee.

Look at me I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree

And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud.

I can't understand.

...