Quit Playin: A Future Delight!

By: Vincent L. Hall

We are just enthralled watching this teenaged virtuoso at my church. As a kid, no one, not even his family could have imagined that he would be such a musical wonderment. Derrick Howell Jr., is a student at Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Thinking of him made me recall the humble beginnings
of Quincy Jones.

On this particular night, all that 11-year-old Quincy wanted was lemon meringue pie. The urge was so strong and so prevalent that he and his band of comrades broke into a recreation center in their Seattle-area neighborhood.

They pigged out on the pie and some ice cream. They reportedly reserved the leftovers for a food fight and then destiny found delight! Quincy Delight Jones Jr.
stumbled upon his destiny when he wandered into an office and spotted a piano in the corner.

I almost closed the door and left,” he says. “But something, thank God, told me, ‘Go back in that room, fool.’ And I did. I touched that piano and knew
then that every part of my soul would be in music forever.”

And that was the night when Black Music was met with Delight. Quincy Delight Jones Jr. is the standard bearer and official barometer for Black Music.

That one moment, when Delight met destiny altered the text and texture of Quincy Jones’ life. It became obvious that pilfering and thievery was not his life’s calling. But even greater, Quincy fell head over heels in love with music, which would serve as a lifelong paramour and mistress. A mistress so passionate that it would outlast four wives who bore a total of seven beautiful children.

But look at what his love for music made of him. Quincy Jones has credits that establish himself and his name as a composer, artist, conductor, arranger, producer and record company executive.

Legendary names like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson whom he collaborated with to produce “Thriller”,
the best-selling album in history.

And don’t forget Ray Charles, a boyhood friend who is also known among the all-time greats in America’s music requiem.

But Quincy Delight could not limit himself to music alone; he also fared well in television and filmography.

If you are living and were Black in 1978 you were probably proud and mystified when Quincy produced the phenomenal blockbusting film, The Wiz. Not only was the music nominated and in receipt of several awards, but it did something else.

The Wiz is among Jones’ most significant works because he used the Wizard of Oz as a template to tell the story anew, afresh and attuned to the sensory perceptions of African American culture.

The Wiz was Black, but it wasn’t racial.

As a result this film became an iconic remake of the original icon that the Wizard of Oz was known to be. Jones proved in film what he proved in music; that people of all races are connectable as long as all cultures are represented. Jones’ list of accolades, achievements and awards includes near 80 Grammys and hundreds of smaller awards.

It does not yet appear what youthful Derrick Howell Jr. will do with his musical mastery, but his success reminds us that we should never fail to encourage and invest in our children.

Derrick Jr. is a delight!

A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.