1. Quincy JonesThe Dude
Quincy Jones was on regular rotation in my house when I was a kid, so this one is an early childhood memory for me. It was hard for me to pick between this, Back On The Block – which is a crazy record – and Q’s Jook Joint – which was him going back to big band in the 90s. I went with The Dude because it’s an absolute classic, but a lot of his big band stuff was quite influential to me too as I played big band jazz as a teenager. I was playing the drums in these bands but sitting in on all these rehearsals where the band would be coaching the horn sections on musical phrasing and how to solo more effectively; that taught me a lot. Even though big band jazz is not very cool and not music I’d go back to that much, I’d still say it was very formative for me.
The title track, ‘Betcha’ Wouldn’t Hurt Me’ and ‘Razzamatazz’ are three songs on this record that are really memorable for me, but honestly all of it is great. I listened to this album so many times front to back as a child. My Dad is a huge Quincy Jones fan and this album is all killer, no filler really.
