Quincy Jones - Back On the Block (1989)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

Wow. Q assembled one helluva group of musicians here, including Ray Charles, Joe Zawinul, Chaka Khan, Take 6, Bobby McFerrin, Miles Davis, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Barry White, and on and on. Also, Jones was one of the first A-list musicians to fully recognize rap as a viable music genre, so this album also includes rappers Ice-T, Kool Moe Dee, Big Daddy Kane, and Melle Mel. Surprisingly, no Michael Jackson. The music is a mix of hip-hop, pop, world music, R&B and may be the first attempt to link rap to jazz. Unfortunately, the production (admittedly cutting edge at the time) hasn't aged well, so this album hasn't had the staying power that some of Q's other albums have. I really don't want to see musician credits include "Kick and Snare Sound" - even the real horns and bass are produced to sound like synths. Still, in 1989, this was commonplace in the market. Illustrating that fact, this album went platinum and led to seven Grammy awards:

• Album Of The Year
• Best Arrangement on an Instrumental
• Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)
• Best Jazz Fusion Performance
• Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical
• Producer of the Year, (Non-Classical)
• Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "Not to be missed."
• CashBox: "a certified winner"
• Rolling Stone (★★½): "an extravagant musical theme park, and its best numbers work better as rides than as records"
• Robert Christgau: B+

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #9
• Billboard Pop CD: #8
• Billboard R&B: #1 (12 weeks)

Tracks: At the time of the album's release, I liked the tittle track, Wee B Dooinit, Setembro, and the covers of Weather Report's Birdland and The Brothers Johnson's I'll Be Good To You. For me, the Birdland cover is the highlight of the disc even with its overproduced synth sound. I hadn't heard these tunes in a while, so it was fun to hear them again today.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I'm reminded of the few months, immediately after our wedding, that my wife and I lived in the Dallas area.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Dude (1981)
Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (1968)