Airtimes: Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Taipei Wednesday, June 30 at 2030 Thursday, July 1 at 1130 Saturday, July 3 at 1900 Sunday, July 4 at 0330 & 1630 Monday, July 5 at 0900
Bangkok and Jakarta
Wednesday, June 30 at 1930
Thursday, July 1 at 1030 Saturday, July 3 at 1800 Sunday, July 4 at 0230 & 1530 Monday, July 5 at 0800 He is a music producer with the Midas touch, creating hit after hit with some of the biggest names in the business. He also holds a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys and a Grammy Legend Award. This week on TALK ASIA CNN's Anjali Rao is in Shanghai with Quincy Jones as he talks about his involvement with the World Expo and remembers Michael Jackson on the first anniversary of his death. Having worked as the culture and art consultant for the Beijing Olympics, Jones once again finds himself immersed in another big event in China - composing the theme song for the World Expo. He talks of his love for Asian culture and explains why it appeals to him: "I am very very curious about the similarities in the cultures...It just shocked me that the Asian culture is so close to the African culture and I've been involved in it all my life now...When they have this opportunity, it gives us a good time to dive into Chinese culture." The legendary music composer has worked with almost every important artist in the last half century from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Dinah Washington. But nothing comes close to his collaboration with Michael Jackson on the album "Thriller", which became and still remains the best-selling album of all time. On the first anniversary of the tragic death of the King of Pop, he recalls their first meeting on the film "The Wiz" where he says he immediately saw something special: "I saw how fast he was, how observant he was. He knows everybody's dialogue, everybody's lyrics, everybody's songs, everybody's dance steps. Everything. I've never seen anything like that in my life. He was very young and so I said I'll take a shot at it...And we did "Off the Wall". And that saved the jobs of a lot of guys at the record companies. The biggest selling black album of all time." And Jones believes that there may never be another Michael Jackson. "Honestly, not now. Cause he had everything and he had it since he was five years old." "We are the world" is another big hit that Jones produced to aid famine relief in Ethiopia. He tells Anjali how he managed to get 46 stars together in one song: "We planned where everybody stood. You don't ask for opinions cause you will get plenty. This was the hardest part - we have to tell 21 singers out of 46 that ‘You're singing the solos and you're not'. That was not easy. So we did all the backgrounds first and so saved that to last." At the age of 77, Jones has no desire to put his feet up: "Not even close. I feel like I am just starting. I feel I am only just starting. I am getting through nine movies and four albums. There's a duet with Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett. And I'm next in Brazil for the Favelas with Billy directing, connecting for Katrina...everyone of them is exciting. You know what is "Retirement" if you take the "RE" out of it? Yes, "tired". I'm not tired. I'm having too much fun." Jones' interview with TALK ASIA will be available online at www.cnn.com/talkasia after the first airing. For more information, please visit www.CNNPressroomAsia.com. Related links: Talk Asia official site Talk Asia Facebook page |
