You’ve got to believe Quincy Jones was willing to die for his music. His biggest health scare came in in 1974 when he suffered a brain aneurysm. The blame fell to his workload – scoring a half-dozen films a year, recording a solo album each year, and producing and arranging for others.He required two surgeries to get back to normal, yet friends and family were so convinced his death was imminent, they organized a memorial with Marvin Gaye and Sarah Vaughan among the entertainers.Jones wound up being healthy enough to attend. That’s the first sign he was unbreakable.In 2015, he went into a diabetic coma after suffering a stroke and again quality of life was an issue. Since recovering, he’s been producing events and TV shows, guiding the careers of 10 young musicians, most of them focused on jazz, and helping his daughter, Rashida, promote her docu on his life, Netflix’s “Quincy”.On Nov 27 left a more permanent mark on Hollywood when his hands and feet are encased in cement in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese Theatre. Not bad for a trumpet player who had his start in the big band era.He has been a one-of-a-kind musician for 70 years. His excellence has been rewarded with 27 Grammy Awards, including an album of the year trophy for “Back on the Block”, a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar, an Emmy for “Roots” and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And he impressed people who aren’t impressed easily: Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Dr Dre, Norman Lear. The pop music audience that doesn’t scan liner notes became wholly aware of Quincy through Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, which has interlinked their names for 35 years. Their affiliation started five years prior with “The Wiz” in 1978, continuing with “Off the Wall”, a product of Jones bringing in a musical team to usher in Jackson’s adult era at the grand old age of 21. While that would be a career highlight for most, it’s but a chapter for Jones. (RTRS)By Phil Gallo