‘Jazz Icons’ DVD takes Quincy back to his roots

Charles J. Gans

NEW YORK — The memories come flashing back when Quincy Jones watches the DVD of himself as a young man directing his “dream” jazz big band that barnstormed through Europe in 1960 after unrest in Paris forced the musical they were performing in to close.

Jones recalls that year as a turning point in his career before he went on to become an acclaimed Hollywood and TV composer, producer of pop megahits such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and entertainment industry mogul.

“Quincy Jones — Live in ’60” is one of nine DVDs in the recently released “Jazz Icons” series featuring long-lost concert and studio film footage from the 1950s through the 1970s of such influential jazz artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Chet Baker. Full story

Best black books of 2006 pack passion on the page

Kam Williams

2006 turned out to be an explosive year for African American nonfiction writers, so much so that it proved quite challenging to settle on a list of just 10 praiseworthy texts. What’s most interesting about the authors selected is that half of them are relative unknowns, either self-published or signed with modest-sized publishers.

Displaying a variety of unique voices, the only thing that these gifted craftsmen have in common is an unbridled passion and a soul still intact. Full story

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