As a musician, producer, composer and executive, Quincy Jones created successes. But in a career that spanned three-quarters of a century, what may have been most important about this giant of American music (who died Sunday at age 91) is that he created the conditions for hits. Jones was a crucial connector of talent and repertoire; he had an instinctive idea of ​​where artists should go to achieve success; built a multimedia empire with a view to empowering people for whom the world of entertainment didn’t always leave room. His masterpiece was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” widely considered the best-selling album of all time. But even that box office success barely scratches the surface of its cultural impact. Here, in the order they were released, are 15 of his essential recordings:

‘Alma Bossa Nova’ (1962)

If Mike Myers hadn’t created Austin Powers, whose film series uses this instrumental song as a theme, someone would have had to come up with a similar character just to take advantage of the song’s limitless style.

Lesley Goreit’s my party‘ (1963)
At age 16, Gore topped Billboard’s Hot 100 on his first attempt: his debut single, which Jones crafted as part of his day job as a producer at Mercury Records, is a joyful expression of teenage frustration, complete with drums and wind instruments that feel two clicks rawer than you expect, no matter how many times you listen to the song.

Frank Sinatra, ‘take me to the moon‘ (1964)
Johnny Mathis, Nancy Wilson and Peggy Lee had already recorded Bart Howard’s romantic plea when Jones arranged a version for Sinatra on the latter’s “It Might As Well Be Swing” LP with Count Basie. But no one made the song jump like Jones did, one of the reasons Ol’ Blue Eyes continued to work with him for the next two decades (including on Sinatra’s final solo studio album, the wonderfully maudlin “LA Is My Lady” from 1984).

‘The street beater‘ (1972)
Television has never known a funkier song than the one Jones composed for “Sanford & Son.”

Aretha Franklin, ‘Somewhere’ (1973)

Franklin made only one studio LP with Jones: “Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky),” which they recorded in the wake of Franklin’s twin 1972 milestones, “Young, Gifted and Black,” and the gospel album in live “Amazing Grace.” His slow-burning rendition of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s ballad “West Side Story” (“my favorite of all time,” Jones told The Times in 2018) is six minutes of lush orchestral jazz. in which Franklin sounds as free as ever.

‘body heat‘ (1974)
Primo’s ’70s soul-funk later sampled by Tupac Shakur for his hit song “How Do U Want It.”

The Johnson Brothers,’Strawberry Letter 23‘ (1977)
Written and recorded in the early ’70s by psychedelic soul eccentric Shuggie Otis, “Strawberry Letter 23” went pop when Jones recorded a version half a decade later with the Brothers Johnson. The song made the rounds again in the early 90s when Color Me Badd interpolated it for “I Wanna Sex You Up” and then again in the early 2000s when Outkast based the song on “Ms. Jackson.”

Diana Ross and Michael Jackson,’Tranquility on the road‘ (1978)
Jones and Jackson met when they were both working on director Sidney Lumet’s big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical “The Wiz.” His propulsive version of the show’s “Ease on Down the Road,” with Ross as Dorothy and Jackson as the Scarecrow in a proudly African-American version of “The Wizard of Oz,” provided a tantalizing hint of what was to come when the singer and producer He set about planning the next step in Jackson’s career.

Michael Jackson, ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You’ve Had Enough’ (1979)

What happened, of course, was this: a brilliant disco-soul fantasy that still ranks as one of the greatest album openers in pop history. “You know, I was wondering if you could continue,” Jackson murmurs over a strutting bass line in his breathy spoken introduction, “because the force, it’s got a lot of power, and it makes me feel like…” Then the 20-year-old unleashes the screech sharp that let everyone know that this former child star had become a man.

George Benson, ‘give me the night‘ (1980)
Having recruited Heatwave’s Rod Temperton to write Jackson’s “Off the Wall” LP, Jones once again turned to Temperton’s talents for this upbeat disco-soul piece from the jazz guitarist turned adult contemporary hitmaker.

‘Only once‘ (1981)
One of three songs sung by the great James Ingram on Jones’ album “The Dude,” this quiet ballad (written by the venerable husband-and-wife duo of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) is one of R&B’s most accomplished productions. Jones elegant.

Michael JacksonI want to start something” (1982)
“Thriller” spawned bigger hits (“Billie Jean”) and more iconic cultural moments (“Beat It”). But as a demonstration of the musical intelligence that Jones and Jackson exerted together in the studio, the album’s surprising opener, with the opener again! — simply has no equal. You could spend days under your headphones unraveling this song’s dense fabric of riffs, licks, rhythms and languages.

United States for Africa, ‘We Are the World’ (1985)

The charity single that ended all charity singles is rightly remembered as a feat of logistics (and in a pre-smartphone era no less). But listen, if you haven’t in a while, to the various vocal performances Jones manages to coax out of some of the song’s many stars in the section where Dionne Warwick (cool and majestic) pitches to Willie Nelson (mind-blowing but understated). . ), who pitches to Al Jarreau (gently declamatory), who pitches to Bruce Springsteen (thirstier than anyone in Los Angeles).

‘The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite),’ with Barry White, Al B. Sure!, James Ingram and El DeBarge (1989)
Jones used his star-studded album “Back on the Block” to prove that he still mattered as an R&B auteur in an era dominated by some of his heirs, including Teddy Riley and the duos of Babyface and LA Reid and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. . Thanks in part to this passionate boudoir conversation, the LP took home the Grammy Award for best album of the year (along with five more of its total of 28) at the 1991 Grammys.

On the weekend,’A Quincy Tale‘ (2022)
Speaking of heirs: The last high-profile appearance of Jones’ career came in the form of a monologue about his complicated childhood that serves as an interlude on The Weeknd’s “Off the Wall”-esque “Dawn FM.” Think of the song as a final testament to Jones’ belief in music as a place to explore emotional vulnerabilities, and one more example in which he understood the value of proximity to warmth.