Qwest Records was an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

run by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

History

Qwest Records was established by

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, although Jones remained under contract with

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

until 1981. The first release on Qwest was

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

's 1980 album, '' Give Me the Night'', shared with Warner Bros. Records, as Benson was under contract with it. Patti Austin, Jones's goddaughter, was one of the first artists to sign with Qwest, and the label released her album, '' Every Home Should Have One'', in 1981. While Qwest Records primarily catered to the R&B market, it also welcomed a diverse range of artists. This included

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

(whom Jones produced in the 1960s), Tevin Campbell, Radiance, and the British alternative dance group New Order (formerly known as

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

, its earlier post-punk incarnation). Jones told ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' in a May 1990 interview: In the 1990s, Qwest Records demonstrated its adaptability by venturing into the burgeoning

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

music scene. It discovered and nurtured R&B artist

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development deal with War ...

, who went on to enjoy a successful career. The label also signed the gospel group the Winans in 1985 and Táta Vega, who released ''Now I See'' through Qwest. Robert Stewart, a performer on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wynton Marsalis recording '' Blood on the Fields'', was signed to the label in 1994. His two albums for Qwest, ''In the Gutta'' and ''The Force'', were met with critical acclaim. Qwest was absorbed by Warner Bros. Records in 2000, with its roster of artists either transferred to its parent label (or its sister labels) or dropped. The

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

currently owns the Qwest catalogue. In 2006, select titles by Jones were licensed to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

for distribution and reissues. Jones himself died on November 3, 2024.

History

References

See also