SXSW Update
An update on Quincy’s keynote address at the 2009 South By Southwest Music Conference. SXSWORLD magazine featured on their February 2009 issue. SXSWORLD is the official magazine of the SXSW Conference and Festivals. The article titled, SXSW Music Keynote: Quincy Jones Reflects On His Comings and Goings, written by Kevin Bronson, covers topics from Quincy’s world. Quincy touches on a broad range of topics like: American culture, his accomplishments, the Secretary of the Arts position, and the evolution of music.
At the end of the article, Quincy drops some words of advice for the many young artists that will be showcasing at SXSW. He ends on a thoughtful note to all the “young bloods” out there:
“Well, they’re not gonna re-invent any notes, but if they were a singer or a guitar player, I would tell them to take 10 of their favorite artists and put their songs on a CD. Then I’d tell them to play those songs over and over and over again. That’s what happened before-King Oliver begat Louis Armstrong, who begat Roy Elridge who begat Miles Davis. They imitated each other, and eventually they developed their own personalities. So what I would tell young musicians is, ‘You need to walk in the shoes of giants.’”
His advice relates to even the Rolling Stones, who have “built an empire on Mississippi blues.” He remembers a time when he was in Rio de Janeiro in 2006 with the Rolling Stones:
“We were in Ron Wood’s room. Mick was standing out on the balcony with no clothes on-Ron was taking photos of Mick’s bare bottom-and Mick says, ‘Crikey look at all those people out there for us,’” Jones says. “But you know what? Inside the room, as he always did, he was playing the records of Muddy Waters.”
To view this issue of SXSWORLD, click here.