Entertainment

Rashida Jones honours ‘genius’ father Quincy Jones days after his death

Parks and Recs Rashida Jones has remembered her late father, revered record producer Quincy Jones, as a “culture shifter” and a “genius” following his death last week.

The 91-year-old jazz musician, known for collaborating with music stars including Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, died on Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles, California, surrounded by his relatives.

The Office alum shared an emotional tribute on Instagram, describing her father as “an icon”, a “culture shifter” and a “genius”, as well as describing his music as “a channel for his love”.

“He WAS love,” the 48-year-old captioned a picture of the pair. “He made everyone he ever met feel loved and seen. That’s his legacy.

“I was fortunate enough to experience this love in close proximity. I’ll miss his hugs and kisses and unconditional devotion and advice.

“Daddy, it is an honour to be your daughter. Your love lives forever.”

Rashida said her father was “nocturnal his whole adult life” keeping to “jazz hours” which he had begun in high school.

“When I was little, I would wake up in the middle of the night to search for him,” The Office star wrote.

“Undoubtedly, he would be somewhere in the house, composing (old school, with a pen and sheet music).

“He would never send me back to bed. He would smile and bring me into his arms while he continued to work… there was no safer place in the world for me.”

Jones died aged 91

Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA

Singers Justin Timberlake and Kelly Rowland, alongside Oscar-nominated actor Sterling K Brown were among those commenting messages of support on her post.

Born on March 14 1933 in Chicago and raised in Seattle, Washington, Quincy began studying trumpet while in junior high school and sang in a gospel quartet at the age of 12.

He started arranging and recording for artists including Ray Charles and Dinah Washington by the mid-1950s.

In 1989 he had made waves with his landmark album, Back On The Block, which was named album of the year at the 1990 Grammy Awards.

Earlier this year, Jones was announced as the recipient of an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards, taking place later this month.

The jazz musician earned a total of seven Oscar nominations for his work on movies that included neo-noir crime film In Cold Blood and The Colour Purple.

In his lifetime, the music star won an Emmy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a Tony and 28 Grammys.

He is one of the few people to have earned non-competitive EGOT status, a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, where one of the awards was honorary or non-competitive.

Jones also collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Tony Bennett, as well as the “King of Pop” Jackson on his albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad.

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