Why Quincy Jones should play a outstanding role in American music education – his absence reflects how segregation still shapes American classrooms

Quincy Jones, who died on November 3, 2024on the age of 91, was one of the influential musicians in US history.

One would think such a notable figure would play a vital role in America's music classrooms. Still My research shows that Jones, who was black, is never mentioned in mainstream US music curricula.

As Black music professorI consider his absence reflects the incontrovertible fact that music education within the United States remains to be segregated along racial lines, because the country has been for much of its history.

In 2020, music theorist Megan Lyons and I analyzed the seven most typical music theory textbooks for college students utilized in the United States We found that only 49 of the nearly 3,000 music examples cited were written by composers who weren’t white.

Quincy Jones, the person and the music

As a composer, arranger, performer and producer, Jones was a musician whose influence on American music can hardly be overestimated. He has won 28 Grammy Awards, he wrote several film scores and was instrumental in a few of a very powerful musical developments in America within the mid-to-late twentieth century, reminiscent of the rise of the jazz artist as a preferred music arranger. He produced the world best-selling album of all time: Michael Jackson's “Thriller”.

Jones was a trumpeter who began his profession in 1953 with bandleader Lionel Hampton, but soon moved away from music and have become far more than simply a sideman.

At an early age he performed with legends reminiscent of Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra and produced and arranged music for singing greats reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Diana Ross. His turn to pop music within the late Seventies helped usher in a revolution of funk, disco and early hip-hop.

I see Jones as an important piece within the history of American music. Nevertheless, like so many others, he’s missing from music lessons Black artists throughout history.

This absence is leading an increasing number of music educators to acknowledge what my research has also discovered: American music education stays deeply rooted in an ideology that has dominated U.S. history – white supremacy.

Segregation in music

One of a very powerful cornerstones of American white supremacy was racial segregation – that’s, Keep whites and blacks separate. This racial divide has been evident throughout American history, including in music education.

Take for instance the incontrovertible fact that the majority of composers studied at American music institutions reminiscent of the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School, in addition to most major university music departments, come from a Western musical tradition and will not be American. I’m referring to Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in addition to a handful of other revered figures. These are all white, European men who died an extended time ago.

This is one reason why students who… Bachelor's degree in Jazz Studies In general, take classes completely outside the overall category from “Major Music”. Courses on jazz, a genre deeply rooted within the African American musical tradition, are sometimes not counted as core courses for music majors at many U.S. colleges, conservatories, and universities; Classical music courses do.

And in a recent twist on musical segregation, classical vocal and instrumental students are included at at the very least one college warned by their studio teachers to not sing or play genres related to Blackness reminiscent of jazz, gospel, blues or hip-hop, for fear that these styles would negatively influence their classical approach.

From the moment the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional in its landmark 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Dominant white America has found latest ways to maintain the races apart.

In music, this manifests itself within the incontrovertible fact that the curricula are kept separate.

If you think that all pop musicians like Jones are banned from music classes, just google “the Beatles in music curricula.” There are countless university courses. The Beatles were has typically been studied for over 20 years.

The Beatles weren't even American, but they’re a part of the American music curriculum. And they were white.

Integration of music curricula

“American music academies,” as I previously wrote in The Conversation, “generally reflect the social norms of the day.”

And societal norms around race and racism are changing rapidly within the U.S., impacting a variety of industries, from fashion to finance.

So what might a relevant American music curriculum appear like?

I’d begin by introducing students to the primary great American musician, Francis “Frank” Johnson. Born in 1792, Johnson was a prolific composer, violinist and bandleader whose life and work are rarely studied within the United States. You shouldn’t be confused with him Frank Johnsonborn 1789, one other notable early American violinist and brass ensemble leader.

I’d proceed with other essential figures of the nineteenth century, reminiscent of the pianist from New Orleans Basile Barèswhose music filled American dance halls after the Civil War. Or Edmond Dedewho studied and lived in Paris, France for years before returning to his native New Orleans.

I’d direct your attention to the Broadway composer Will Marion Cookwho studied violin as a young person at Oberlin College and later with the celebrated virtuoso Joseph Joachim in Berlin. Or in regards to the conductor, composer and librettist Harry Lawrence Freemanwhose 21 operas are still remarkably little researched.

And I’d never allow my curriculum to go away out the vocal music of Margaret Bondsthe symphonic works of Julia Perrythe atonal music of Undine Smith Moore or the music theories of Roland Wiggins.

Although I've only scratched the surface, all of those musicians were African American – and I haven't even mentioned blues, hip-hop, Motown, rock or R&B artists.

In my opinion, black music and genres of music have had a greater impact on the course of American music than some other style or genre. For this reason, I consider that universities and music schools should integrate this music into their music curricula – and have it prominently and proudly.

From Francis Johnson to Quincy Jones, black music exemplifies the musical greatness that the United States can produce for Americans and the world.