Quincy Jones (1933 – 2024)

“Quincy just creates a vibe in the studio: he orders up great food, makes everybody feel comfortable and happy, and that makes for a great creative experience.”

~ Steve Lukather

Multi-Grammy award winning impresario Quincy Jones died this week at the age of 91, the music world having been touched by his talent and work in so many ways.  Astrodatabank cites three different birth times, so my investigation is a bit of a quest for which birth chart I find most convincing.  There are two possible Libran Ascendant, and a Leo.  My inclination on first examining the three charts is to favour the Leo Ascendant.

Birth Chart

Quincy had the Sun in Pisces, that is certain.  But Pisces itself is the sign of uncertainty.  It is also the sign of genius, talent, compassion and sensitivity.  He had Jupiter opposite the Sun, exaggerating these strengths, but also perhaps weaknesses.  Pluto trined his natal Sun, attesting to his powerful inner nature.  The Moon’s position varies with each of the three charts, but is always in Scorpio, giving depth and intensity of emotion, and adding to his intuition.  His Mercury is unaspected, depicting an independent mind.  Venus in Pisces is conjunct the North Node: his karmic mission to develop his musical talents.  Mars conjunct Neptune denotes what can be a certain finesse in his personality.  Mars itself is at the South Node, so this is a talent brought through from past lives.  Jupiter sextile Pluto speaks to us of his power, and ability to handle power, usually in a wise manner with this type of aspect.  Jupiter also trines his Midheaven in the Leo rising/Ascendant chart, which would describe the breadth of his success.  Furthermore, Jupiter trine his natal Chiron shows an ability to find solutions for people, win-win outcomes.  He has an unrestrained Saturn, with it being unaspected, which helped him express his Jupiter to the max.  Uranus exactly squares Pluto, which is an extreme challenge he must have found a way to work with to achieve all he did.  In the Leo rising chart, Pluto exactly sextiles his Midheaven (Careerpoint), another factor in favour of this particular chart, because it point to him being a superpower in his industry.

Life and Career

Quincy was born in Chicago, from a family connected to conditions of enslavement going back only two generations.  He latched onto the musical instrument the piano at an early age.  His parents divorced and he lived with his father who remarried, the family growing, so that he had several siblings.  He attended High School in Seattle, and extended his musical repertoire, singing in a gospel quartet at the age of 12.  His father inspired a work ethic, with the words: “Once a task is just begun, never leave until it’s done. Be the labour great or small, do it well or not at all.” This may be shown by Saturn in the 6th House of Work Ethic in the Leo rising chart.  He attended music college in Boston, and began a life of performance, encouraged by Ray Charles who was an early influence for him.  At the age of 20 he took a tour in Europe with an orchestra, after which he supported a young Elvis Presley’s performances – his career spanned seventy years! By 1958 he was working with Frank Sinatra.  From there, he moved into being an arranger/conductor for Sinatra and others.

“Frank Sinatra took me to a whole new planet. I worked with him until he passed away in ’98. He left me his ring. I never take it off. Now, when I go to Sicily, I don’t need a passport. I just flash my ring.”

We may not (always) have been aware of Quincy’s work, much of it in the background for other artists, but the artists and works are so prominent, that we know his work.  He began to make music for film, a notable example being for the iconic film starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, “In the Heat of the Night” (1967).

He worked as an arranger for such greats as Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Nana Mouskouri.  But his career went into overdrive when he started working with Michael Jackson in the late 1970s, producing the latter’s hit albums “Off the Wall” and “Thriller” (one of the best selling albums in pop history) and “Bad”.  Arguably, the collaboration also saw Michael Jackson at his peak.  This magical partnership was astrologically borne of an exact conjunction of Quincy’s Mars to Michael’s Sun (a supreme stimulus), Quincy’s South Node on Michael’s Sun (a past life karmic connection), Quincy’s Pluto sextile Michael’s Mars (again, firing on all cylinders), Michael’s Mars on Quincy’s Midheaven for the Leo rising chart (a leg up for Quincy’s career), and again for the Leo rising chart Michael’s Jupiter sextile Quincy’s Ascendant (great encouragement from Michael to Quincy).  Quincy was responsible for organizing the multi-artist charity single “We Are The World”.

His career went from strength to strength in the 1990s, when he established the Quincy Jones Entertainment company with Time Warner, writing his autobiography in 2001 titled (unenigmatically) “The Autobiography of Quincy Jones”.  He also made cameo appearances in films.  He was also a social activist for various causes.

In his personal life, he married three times and had seven children.  This again is most significantly highlighted by the Leo rising chart, with having the North Node, Venus and the Sun in his 7th House of Marriage. One of his later partners was Nastassja Kinski, with whom he had a deep connection (his South Node on her Pluto).  He spoke out in favour of Astrology, and explained: “Once my dreamer Pisces side sees the end result, my practical Leo influence kicks in and says, ‘How do I get there?'”.

He was a multi-layered talent, encompassing record, film and television producing, songwriting, composition and arrangement.  That speaks of a combination of Pisces (breadth of talent) and Leo (overall creativity in a project).

Michael Caine is an astrological twin of Quincy Jones, his chart differing by virtue of a Gemini  Ascendant and a Moon in Libra, and his tribute reads:

“My celestial  twin Quincy was a titan in the musical world.  He was a wonderful and unique human being.  Lucky to have known him.”

Aspects

It’s a lack-lustre week for aspects…bit like the weather here in the U.K. at the moment.  But we had enough of the drama last week, with the U.S. election.  Of course Trump triumphed, with transiting Jupiter on his natal Sun/North Node in his 10th House of Prominence.  I was shy of broadcasting this, but this is what I actually wrote back in July:

“Jupiter on his North Node in Gemini in 10th House (would be karmic rewards, but lawlessness – the negative form of Jupiter – may actually produce karmic comeuppance, especially for convicted felons)”.

It is clear that the force is still with him.

Tomorrow, Monday 11th, brings an ingress: the entry of Venus into Capricorn.  Carefree Venus in Sagittarius gives way to a more sedate portrayal of love and affection, and the Arts.  Loyalty and stamina are more in evidence, after the more adventurous period of her sojourn in Sagittarius.  Thoughts may turn to the care of the elderly within the family circle, and may possibly focus on the issue of social care, one of the hotly debated topics of the day, which the government urgently needs to solve, in order to alleviate its impact on other hotly debated features which have been stuck.

Overnight (Monday/Tuesday), you may catch a glimpse of a meteor shower from the Northern Taurids.  The BBC News website tells us:

“These showers, known for their slow-moving, long-lasting meteors, are linked to Comet Encke… as it passes through our solar system…. To find Taurus, look for the constellation Orion and then peer to the north-east to find the red star Aldebaran, the star in the bull’s eye.”

Tuesday (12th) brings a square, that of Saturn to Mercury.  This brings up mental weariness.  So much so that you may have to put your thought processes on the back burner for a while, trying meditation or gentle exercise instead.  This may give your mind a rest and a refresh or a reset.  If  you are worried, send healing to the situation to your best level.  The stuckness may suggest a new strand to your philosophy of life, incorporating the quality of resilience.  “What is being required here?” is a useful question. More haste less speed may also be a useful mantra to follow. Travel and communications could be slow, and mirror this process.  For those with mobility problems, don’t strain to do too much today.

The middle of the week is aspect-less, but looking at Friday (15th) there is a welcome turn especially for Capricorns, with Saturn Stationary poised to turn Direct – probably the best feature of the week!  This may be experienced as a relief to some, again especially for Capricornians, and may release some of their chains or burdens.  Certain matters which have been stuck since the end of June, may slowly start to make progress again.

That evening, there is a Full Moon at 24 degrees Taurus.  Therefore, with tension building up to this and Saturn in the midst of a turn, you may not yet experience the benefits of Saturn Direct… bear with, as they say.  As for the Full Moon itself, your emotions may be stirred and you may be motivated to try to resolve in an issue you care passionately about (Taurus and the Sun in opposite sign Scorpio are Fixed signs).  If you are of an artistic bent, you can plough this feeling into your creativity.

The week in bullet points:

  • Tomorrow – sedate portrayal of love and the Arts
  • Tuesday – mental weariness
  • Friday – a release; emotional high tide
Date: Nov 10th, 2024 · Comments RSS · Tags: Celebrities · Obituary