What’s new in the arts

Documentary illuminates the story of music legend Quincy Jones

Take a break from streaming those Netflix series and invest two hours in its presentation of the documentary “Quincy,” an incisive and entertaining profile of the legendary musician/ producer/arranger Quincy Jones. While it’s not quite a warts-and-all account of the 87year-old Jones’ life, directed as it was by his loving daughter Rashida, “Quincy” is nevertheless a reminder of the complexity as well as the unmistakable talent of a man who’s spent more than 60 years in the music business.

A highlight is the backstory behind Jones’ mentorship and producing of Michael Jackson, which achieved its zenith with the recording of the “Thriller” album in 1982. Jones later produced the ensemble single (benefiting USA for Africa) “We Are the World,” co-written by Jackson and Lionel Richie. That’s Quincy Jones you see conducting the assemblage of star singers on the famous “We Are the World” video. Watching and hearing it again gave me an idea, too: We need another “We Are the World” recording and video, with a few changes in the lyrics, this time to raise awareness of our collective humanity during the pandemic and to raise money for front-line health workers across the globe and/or researchers working on a potential vaccine. Jones might not be up to conducting the new chorus these days, but as the “Quincy” doc reveals, he rarely says no when he believes in the music or the cause. To see a trailer for the Netflix documentary, go to bit.ly/quincy-netflix.

Quincy Jones