Quincy Jones - The Quintessence

Quincy Jones and His Orchestra
The Quintessence

The Quintessence is a solid album, not brilliant, but solid. The reason why is simple, and will explain why this is such a short review.

By this point in Quincy Jones' career he is an arranger. So, expectations for his albums are such that you would expect the creativity to come from the compositions and arrangements. These compositions and arrangements are competent, probably more than competent considering their source, but then again, considering their source, you would expect better.

Simply stated, there is little that is original on this recording. It is quite disappointing; I have been listening lately to another Quincy Jones recording from 1969 (The Complete Jam Sessions). That is a fascinating recording, and not just because Bill Cosby was involved in it. The Quintessence falls short of being what you hope to get with a Jones' album.

It isn't a bad album. It is worth the time to listen to it. There just isn't a whole lot there to get excited about or write about.