Thursday, February 14, 2008

Q Too?

Next week I’ll be reviewing Quincy Jones celebrating fifty years in music at Montreux. How cool does that sound? However, one Quincy Jones gig that will not generate much eager anticipation will be the Beijing Olympics, for which he will serve as an “artistic advisor.” Steven Speilberg was recently shamed into bailing on Beijing over Darfur. Now what about Jones, his Color Purple collaborator?

Presumably he has not yet followed Spielberg’s lead. His myspace bio still proclaims:

“In October of 2006, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad appointed Quincy Jones as the artistic advisor for opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.”

In May 2006, Jones sounded completely seduced by the Communist regime. Reuters quoted Jones praising china for: “the beautiful women—some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, whoah.” OK, fine, I agree, Chinese women are beautiful. Too bad there will not be anymore in the near future, thanks to the Communist government’s strict one child policy.

Mia Farrow deserves credit for embarrassing Spielberg into doing the right thing. Of course, she focused on their support for the Sudanese regime. DH makes the valid point that the Chinese government’s policies towards its own people ought to be troubling enough on their own. Tiananmen Square, Tibet, forced abortions, internet censorship, and toxic consumer exports ought to be enough for most people to want to steer clear of the regime.

Jones has created some great music, including “Grace Notes,” a theme composed for the 1984 Olympics gymnastics competition. Perhaps Jones wants to revisit past Olympic glory. Be that as it may, Jones would do more good by playing Montreux again in 2008 than associating with the Chinese regime.