Quincy Jones launches dedicated Jazz TV Channel

Legendary composer, producer and bandleader Quincy Jones is launching a new Jazz video channel; he announced the news on stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival over the weekend. Qwest TV is a Franco-American project, claiming to be the world’s first paid video platform dedicated to jazz and jazz-inspired music forms. Subscriptions open on September 6th (the same day as an all-star tribute concert to Quincy at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles). Once the finances have been kickstarted, the broadcasts can begin later in the autumn.

Quincy said: “The dream of Qwest TV is to let jazz and music lovers everywhere experience these incredibly rich and diverse musical traditions in a whole new way.  At my core, I am a bebopper, and over the course of my seventy-year career in music I have witnessed first-hand the power of jazz – and all of its off-spring from the blues and R&B to pop, rock and hip-hop, to tear down walls and bring the world together. I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will view Bird, Miles and Dizzy, as our Mozart, Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky, and it is my hope that Qwest TV will serve to carry forth and build on the great legacy that is jazz for many generations to come.”