Quincy Jones releases 66 rare jazz performances from the 60s and 70s
Quincy's Qwest TV has released rare films of jazz acts from the 1960s and 70s
Last updated 20th Jan 2021
An archive of rare performances from some of the greatest jazz artists from the 60s and 70s has been made available online for the first time ever.
Sixty-six sets captured at the famous Antibes and Cannes Jazz Festivals and at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, as well as intimate footage filmed at the Club Saint-Germain and the Blue Note club in Paris have been released by Quincy Jones’ QwestTV.
The collection includes films from Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk Quartet, Miles Davis Quintet and Nina Simone, described by The New Yorker as “perhaps the most significant treasure chest of archival jazz concerts to emerge in years.”
The young Quincy Jones moved to France in 1957 keen to take advantage of a more welcoming and open-minded environment. It was this move which arguably contributed to Quincy Jones development as a classical-trained jazz composer studying with renowned French composition teacher Nadia Boulanger, and started his legendary career.
Back in the 1950s, the “easiest way to starve in America was to be a black arranger writing for strings,” said Quincy recently, “You could be Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven all rolled into one. But if you were black, your ass went to the blues and jazz department of every record company.”
Below is a list of greatest hits from the 66 videos included in the collection.
Discover the full list of performances on the Qwest TV website.
Ella Fitzgerald - Live at Antibes Jazz Festival
James Brown and The Famous Flames - Live at the Olympia, Paris
Diana Ross and The Supremes - Live in Paris
Miles Davis Quintet - Live at Antibes Jazz Festival
Nina Simone - Live at the Olympia, Paris - Part 1 and Part 2
Aretha Franklin - Live at Antibes Jazz Festival
Ray Charles - Live at the Pleyel Concert Hall, Paris - 1970
BB King - Live in Nice - Part 1 and Part 2
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - Live at the Pleyel Concert Hall, Paris
Ahmad Jamal Trio - Live in Paris
Thelonious Monk Quartet - Lie in Amiens, France - Part 1 and Part 2
Dizzy Gillespie - Live in Paris
John Lee Hooker - Live in Paris
Bill Evans Trio - Live in Paris
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Live at the Olympia, Paris
Erroll Garner - Live in Paris
Memphis Slim: On the Road
Dexter Gordon Quartet - Live in Paris