Music Legend Quincy Jones’ Qwest TV Streaming Service Launches Educational Initiative To Provide Free Access To Educational & Cultural Institutions
Quincy Jones is one of the most revered names in all of music. Quincy has put in over 60 years of work in the industry, landing him a record 80 Grammy nominations, 28 Grammy wine & a Grammy Legend Award in 1992. Jones along with his songwriting partner Bob Russell became the first African-Americans to be nominated for an “Academy Award for Best Original Song” for “The Eyes of Love” from the film Banning.
Jones was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for his work on the 1967 film In Cold Blood, making him the first African-American to be nominated twice in the same year. In 1971 he became the first African-American to be the musical director and conductor of the Academy Awards ceremony. In 1995 he was the first African-American to receive the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Quincy is tied with Willie D. Burton as the second most Oscar-nominated African-American, with seven nominations each. In 2013, Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the winner, alongside Lou Adler, of the Ahmet Ertegun Award. He was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time magazine.
With enough awards and nominations to speak on for the entirety of this piece, Quincy Jones is most notably known for his work with Micheal Jackson. Jackson and Jones worked together on Jackson’s “Off the Wall“, “Thriller” and “Bad” albums as well as 1985’s charity song “We Are the World”.
It’s fair to say Quincy Jones has been apart of some of the most historic moments in music history, the Chicago native is using his “Qwest Tv” streaming service to educate elementary, high schools, music schools, colleges, and universities across the world on Jazz, Soul, Classical & World Music. Qwest TV hopes to be an entry point for those wanting to connect with and learn more about the wide-ranging music made by Black Americans, along with other striking musical artists from around the world.
Qwest TV is a celebration of unique talents, traditions, and rhythms. With more than a thousand music-related experiences on offer, the video streaming service strives to be the world’s home for jazz, soul, funk, classical, and world music. Co-founded and curated by Quincy Jones, the channel preserves the richness of history, while reflecting the present-day beauty and reality of culturally and racially diverse people.
Learn more about Qwest Tv’s Free Access to Educational and Cultural Institutions below.
Quincy Jones’ Qwest TV Offers Free Access to Educational and Cultural Institutions
As Blackout Tuesday swept across the music industry, Quincy Jones wrote on Twitter:
In honor of Juneteenth, Quincy Jones and Qwest TV announced that first action! Qwest TV will provide free access to the “Qwest TV Educational Platform” to all willing elementary-high schools, music schools, colleges, and universities across the world.
Qwest Tv’s platform will allow students and teachers access to over 1,000 concerts, documentaries, and archival footage representing a cross-section of music, with the hopes it’ll become an entry point for those wanting to connect with and learn more about the wide-ranging music made by Black Americans, along with other striking musical artists from around the world.
“We want each kid and student in this country to be able to freely explore their musical history by rediscovering their roots, both through jazz and beyond.”
Quincy Jones On Qwest Tv Educational Platform
Offering more than 1,000 videos, bringing some of the most powerful performances in Jazz, Soul, Funk, Classical, and Global Music to students and educators for free. As part of its Qwest TV EDU initiative, the streaming service will provide carefully curated, culturally significant musical performances to all willing educational institutions starting in September 2020. All videos will be available in the best possible quality.
Qwest TV will feature a range of music-related content including concerts by everyone from Herbie Hancock to Anderson.Paak; archival recordings and rarities from pivotal artists rom Louis Amstrong to Gregory Porter; and interviews and documentaries from Tony Allen to Questlove, to add vital context. Extensive notes written by scholars and journalists will further enhance the experience. Music lovers and curious explorers can browse the service carefully curated channels and discover more about a country, style, or artistic movement that intrigues them.
With more than 1,000 video offerings, Qwest TV is bringing some of the most powerful performances in jazz, soul, funk, classical, and global music to students and educators for free.
This initiative comes in response to and in support of the worldwide protests against brutality and anti-Black racism. Qwest TV hopes to be an entry point for those wanting to connect with and learn more about the wide-ranging music made by Black Americans, along with other striking musical artists from around the world.
Interested educators can find more information here. Institutions already participating in the program include Harvard, Princeton, and The University of the Arts. The service now aims to reach as many students as possible, from elementary schools to conservatories and community colleges.
A STATEMENT FROM QUINCY JONES ON THE QWEST TV EDUCATION INITIATIVE
Growing up in the Southside of Chicago and Bremerton, Washington during the Great Depression, I was fortunate enough to have been mentored by some of the greatest jazz cats of all time. I’m talking about Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Bird, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, you name it. The absolute best of the best. Their music and history was incredibly rich, and man, I got sucked in from day one. Fortunately, for me, I had a direct connection with these landmark figures, and now after having been on this planet for close to nine decades, I’ve personally experienced the highs and lows that this world has to offer.
Much to our collective disservice, the United States is the only country without a Minister of Culture, and this communal inattentiveness to our roots has been detrimental to our individual and collective understanding of identity. Oftentimes, people don’t know who they are because they have no frame of reference. Well, everything is based upon what has happened before us, and if you know where you come from, it’s easier to get where you want to go! Kids (and adults alike) need to know where they come from. Plain and simple. Big bands, Bebop, Doo-wop, Hip-Hop, Laptop, that’s all sociological. The bebop to hip-hop connection is about being aware: more specifically, being aware that all of our music springs from the same roots, and they inform much of what we call mainstream music today.
When I lived in Paris during the late 50’s, I learned a great deal about life, because having come from America in the midst of segregation, Paris taught me about acceptance, regardless of color or culture. They loved jazz, and more importantly, they took people who looked like me in as their own. Man, we wouldn’t have jazz if it weren’t for the French and Congo Square during slavery. Jazz conditioned me to be an open thinker, and taught me how to improvise in nearly every area of my life. It has always been focused on freedom and pure imagination, through an absolutely beautiful and nonrigid, democratic perspective on music and the world.
In the same way, there is something absolutely beautiful about the fact that music has the unique ability to connect people from all walks of life. I’m talking about individuals of different races, beliefs, socio-economic statuses, you name it. And man, the history of our music is incredibly deep; the fact of the matter is, people don’t know enough about it and the influence that it has had on our modern day life.
What we’re going through right now is nothing new. Take it from someone who has been on this planet since before electricity! ((:0)) It’s difficult to know what to say during a time such as this, because I’ve been dealing with racism my entire life. That said, it’s rearing its ugly head right now, and by God, it’s time to deal with it once and for all.
Before the late, great Duke Ellington passed, we did the Duke Ellington…We Love You Madly TV Special (my first television credit as a producer) and my blessed brother, Duke, gave me a photo of him, signed, “To Q, who will be the one to de-categorize American music,” and that’s exactly what I’ve tried to do all of my life. Whether it was through the creation of my 1989 album, Back on the Block, a simmering musical stew of everything from jazz to world to hip-hop to swing music; to working with every genre under the sun; to the South Central to South Africa trip with Nelson Mandela, it has been a part of the very fabric of my calling to help break down the barriers for any willing ear.
So, it absolutely brings me a great deal of joy to announce that from September onwards, we at Qwest TV will be giving out free access to our “Qwest TV Educational Platform” to all willing elementary-high schools, music schools, colleges, and universities from all over the world, with over 1,000 programs of music, while rightly compensating the artists and rights owners. Documentaries, archives, and concerts from around the world highlight the beauty of our humanity and what makes our differences a strength to share. We want each kid and student to be able to freely explore their musical history by rediscovering their roots, both through jazz and beyond.
We’ve got to believe that we are multicultural miracles, and we at Qwest TV want all of you to embrace and celebrate that. The future is a bright, beautiful mix of colors, and we hope that many will join us by taking action in all fields of society, to lay the groundwork for a positive future for the kids of tomorrow.
Avec la patience, on arrive à tout! Merci!
For school and university representatives, reach out to edu@qwest.tv to provide your students with the Qwest TV Educational platform for free starting in September 2020 onwards.
For artists and their representatives, if you would like to partake this initiative: artists@qwest.tv
For supporters wanting to share further ideas on how to nurture positive futures: positivefutures@qwest.tv
