Warner Bros. / Qwest Records, 1995. Produced by Quincy Jones, QDIII and R. Kelly.

There is no denying that Quincy Jones is a man with few peers - the resume of people he has worked with reads like a who's who of American music. You have to be very talented to back up credentials like that, and Jones has no problem doing exactly that. I just wish that Jones didn't feel like he had to open every solo album with a self-serving tribute to his own greatness. His last solo record, 1991's Grammy winning Back On The Block started off with a rap comprised of several established performers verbally praising Jones' influence and accomplishments. Q's Jook Joint begins with a series of audio snippets (mostly outtakes from previous recording sessions, I'd bet) that present the impression of artists like Stevie Wonder, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Gloria Estefan, Bono and many others just hanging around waiting to get into the "jook joint" to play with the great Quincy Jones. Considering that this sonic collage is reprised two more times as the album progresses, it gets pretty darned annoying. Well, I guess that's what the "skip" button on the CD player is for. Once you get into the music, most of the album is quite good - the great pop ballad "You Put A Move On My Heart" sits next to the jumping big band production number "Let the Good Times Roll," and a flurry of celebrity cameos peppers the album to the point of oversaturation. Jones missteps with his inferior re-make of "Rock With You," the Michael Jackson disco classic that was originally produced by (you guessed it) Jones. Why would Jones record this song again? Surely any artistic or commercial goal he may have had regarding "Rock With You" was accomplished the first time around. One can't help but think that he's reminding us of his importance yet again. The theme of the album is that all of these artists are hanging out at the "Jook Joint" having a good time and waiting to get up on stage to perform for the house - which was (not coincidentally) the idea pervading Paul Shaffer's 1993 album The World's Most Dangerous Party. There is some really exciting music on Q's Jook Joint, but I can't help but think that Jones should quit with the self-reverential bit and let the music speak for itself.

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