On the sleeve notes of some of the most memorable and best-selling albums of all time, you’ll find the words “Produced and arranged by Quincy Jones.” It was a hallmark of quality. Jones, who died on Nov.
3, 2024 , at the age of 91, transformed our understanding of musical arrangement. His work spanned decades and genres, from jazz and pop to hip-hop and film scoring. He worked with pop icons like Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, and also collaborated with lesser-known artists such as Lesley Gore and Tevin Campbell.
Each of his projects, collaborations and forays into new genres redefined what it meant to arrange music. As a music business and entrepreneurship professor , I’ve studied and taught Jones’ techniques, which I hope can inspire the next generation of musicians. A master musical architect Musical arrangement might seem like an abstract concept.
Simply put, it’s the art of deciding how a song unfolds. While a composer writes the melody and harmony, an arranger shapes the experience, choosing which instruments play when, how textures build and where dynamics shift. Arrangement transforms a song from notes on paper into a fully realized piece of art that resonates with listeners.
In essence, an arranger acts as a musical architect, designing the structure of a song to tell a compelling story. Jones brought a visionary approach to arranging. He wasn’t merely filling in the gaps around a melody with a drum beat here and a horn.