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AsianConnections
is proud to present the adventures of Ben Fong-Torres, our Renaissance
man: author, broadcaster, and former senior editor and writer at Rolling
Stone Magazine. This
guy's our hero! Ben
was a featured character in "Almost Famous," the Oscar and Golden
Globe-winning film by Cameron Crowe.
Taking a Q from Quincy Jones: It's His Party by
Ben Fong-Torres From a CD I'd burned of bits of his music, ranging from bebop in the 50s to hip-hop in the 90's, I punched up "Soul = Bossa Nova," recorded in 1962 and given new life a few years ago when it was used as the opening theme for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. As they recognized the sassy, brassy tune, the audience broke into laughter and applause, and Q, as he's known, rocked happily in his chair. "Dad," he recalled one of his kids telling him, "That's the hippest thing you ever did." Jones said he'd met Mike Myers, the creator and star of the two Austin Powers films, but never learned how his 40 year-old tune got into 1999's biggest comedy. The session with Jones, which took place at the Marin County Jewish Community Center in San Rafael, Calif., was part of his promotional tour for his excellent memoirs, Q: The Autobiography Of Quincy Jones, and its companion CD box set from Rhino. I am told that he asked for me to serve as his interviewer, although we'd never met. We'd been separated by one degree over the years. I'd interviewed numerous artists with whom he'd worked, including Ray Charles (back in the Forties in Seattle), Michael Jackson (Q produced Thriller), Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan (Q produced "We Are the World"), and others. I'd written the bio for People magazine's tribute to Frank Sinatra; Jones was his arranger on "Fly Me to the Moon" and other tunes. As Kimberlye Gold wrote in the San Francisco Herald, "The vibe was mutual admiration and easy camaraderie, with Quincy interjecting things like 'Rolling Stone wouldn't have happened without Ben!'" Well, a lot of popular culture wouldn't have happened without Quincy Delight Jones. And, with the understanding that this interview was for a paying audience in a nightclub/theatrical setting, I was happy to play the part of a genial host, and leave my journalist's hardhat at the door. Bottom line: we had fun. Jones spoke eloquently about his horrific childhood in Chicago, his passion for music and for the mentors who taught him how to write and arrange it, and his mind-numbing achievements, from pop hits like "It's My Party" to music for Roots; from producing The Color Purple (which introduced the public to Oprah Winfrey) to creating VIBE magazine. For all his accomplishments, Jones never mentioned that he was on the eve of receiving a tribute and award at the Kennedy Center Honors. As we left the JCC, we passed through a long line of audience members now waiting for their chance to get their book autographed, and to say hello to the charming Q for themselves. They were in for a long wait. But they would be amply rewarded.
RANDOM NOTES: My book about the history of Top 40 radio, The Hits Just Keep On Coming, is out in paperback, including a CD of classic DJ airchecks. If you love either radio or me, check it out....If you love women singers the way I do, hunt down Telegraph, a CD from Laura Allan, a singer-songwriter whose recordings have scored well in Japan and China, as well as domestically. It may be because Allan loves Asian instruments, and plays the Chinese string instrument, jin (or qin), along with flute, kalimba, and dulcimer, on the title tune. Or it may be because her voice is stunning; a blend of Joni Mitchell, Sarah MacLachlan, Rickie Lee Jones, and that other underrated vocalist, Valerie Carter. You can dig her for yourself by grabbing one of her disks at CDstreet.com��Congratulations to hip-hop mixmasters Gorillaz, featuring San Francisco's Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, who got a Grammy nomination (for rap performance by a duo or group). Go get 'em! Click to Ben
Fong-Torres Articles Index |
NEXT
UP: An interview with Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist of The Band
and producer of The Last Waltz, the film of the band's 1976 farewell concert,
which is being remembered by way of a special edition DVD and four-CD
box set. We'll mix it up at the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference in
Austin, Texas, in mid-March. Robertson, by the way, can be seen in the
Gap commercial with various artists singing "Give a Little Bit"....Before
that, I get to co-anchor the telecast of the San Francisco Chinese New
Year Parade for the sixth year on KTVU (February 23, repeated the next
day on both KTVU and KICU). For the second year, Julie Haener of Fox 2
News is alongside, giving the broadcast some actual professionalism. And
you can bet I'll be thinking of Willie Kee, the pioneer KTVU camera operator,
Victor Wong, the writer and character actor, and other losses we witnessed
last year. As Time's person of the year put it, too many to bear��  |
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