聆听美国音乐教父

昆西琼斯在视觉艺术学院的演讲 

第12届上海国际电影节圆满的结束了，我终于有时间来说说我的好朋友，昆西·琼斯（Quincy Jones）。

我想了很多词，我想用尽量简单的词去定义昆西，但我发现这真是很难。昆西无疑是美国音乐界最重要的人物，他已经不是单纯的“有名”了——1985年，他联合了45位国际巨星，为非洲的慈善活动合作了一首“We are the world”，相信你一定听过；他为Michael Jackson制作的专辑Thriller一共卖出了5千万张，是世界上最畅销的专辑！迄今为止，Quincy已经获得了27个格莱美奖（Grammy提名79次），7次奥斯卡奖提名，并获得了奥斯卡终身成就奖（the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award）。除了音乐方面的成就，Quincy也是慈善家、企业家、社会活动家……

在这次上海国际电影节期间，Quincy到了上海视觉艺术学院来给学生们做一个讲座。当天来了很多学生，大大的教师座无虚席，龚学平校长也亲自来到现场。

汪天云院长来做了欢迎词

Quincy出生在芝加哥的黑人区，他的父亲是名木匠，专门给当地黑帮干活。所以小时候的Quincy脑袋里只想着打架、赚大钱，想自己有朝一日也成为一个黑帮的混混。直到有一天，当他和其他小混混又去打砸抢的时候，发现了一架钢琴，不可思议的事情发生了，就像一道灵光，Quincy忽然明白了原来这就是自己要为之奋斗终身的东西，于是就有了现在我们眼前这个国宝级的人物！（我的中文可没这么好，这来自当天的翻译沈家春）

My father worked as a master carpenter in the Bremerton Navy shipyard, but I was still dreaming of becoming a thug. We were the first black kids in town and Chicago had provided us with all the training we needed to take over the turf.
One night, we broke into an armory – which was also our recreation center – to steal some food. We stuffed ourselves with lemon meringue pie and ice cream, which then led to a food fight. I was like the Monkey King, eating all of those peaches of immortality in Heaven.
Afterwards, we split up and I broke into an administration room...and in the dark, I spotted a little spinet piano.

I was about to leave, but for some reason, I didn’t... and I slowly walked over and stared at that piano, then I let my fingers slowly slide down to touch the keys.

This was the moment of truth for me – every cell in my body knew in a heartbeat that music would be the dream of my life forever. Food and water would feed my body, but music would nourish my mind, heart and soul.
I gave up gangs from that point forward and started channeling my life to music.

在和中国学生的交流中，Quincy感到了他们对知识的渴求，他因此对音乐充满了希望。在演讲的最后，Quincy甚至把自己的Email告诉了当场的学生，用以鼓励他们。这可是我以前没见过的！

Qutation of Quincy

·Imagine what a harmonious world it could be if every single person, both young and old shared a little of what he is good at doing.

·The only useful aspect of fame and celebrity is to use it to help somebody.

·Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy wrote, "My peace of bread only belongs to me when I know everyone else has a piece... that no one has to starve while I eat."

·Music is the only thing that affects the left and right brain simultaneously. That's why it has so much power. It's soul and science. It also has the ability to make people think and feel. Music has been my touchstone because it instilled in me the belief in myself, which is the rarest of gifts, like a hard and brilliant diamond held in the deepest recesses of the heart.

·Creativity can open your mind and stir your curiosity. It teaches you how much we all share in common... and to love and respect each other's differences and religions. It doesn't matter whether it's Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam or whatever.

·If we all make regular deposits into our emotional bank accounts with courtesy, kindness, honesty, and by keeping our commitments to each other, then the account is high and the communication is easy.

·I know that in China you have the familiar saying, Have Food is Heavenly. In the American entertainment industry, we have a similar saying, Content is King.

·Always remember that excellence is not an act, it's a habit. Everything you do should be with excellence.

·When life begins to seem like too much, we should take a moment to let the soul catch up with the body. Go out and find a song you love, a poem that touches your heart, and take the time to let the whisper of Heaven's voice come into your mind. Everyday that you wake up and are still above the ground, that should be the only reason you need to be happy.