The War brought Quincy Jones to Washington.

In 1943, World War II was a boiling hot furnace.  That was the year Quincy Jones’ family moved from Chicago to Navy Yard City - a neighborhood in Bremerton, Washington, just a little south and over the hillside from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The shipyard needed hard workers to support the war effort, and that’s where Quincy’s father got a job. 10-year-old Quincy Jones began attending classes at Coontz Junior High School in Bremerton. After four years at the shipyard and the war in the rearview mirror - the Jones family moved to Seattle in 1947.

Quincy Jones attended Garfield High School. Now 17 years old, young Quincy had a paper route in Seattle's Central District, learned trumpet, and grew a passion for music.

Seattle had a thriving jazz scene, and Quincy’s musical fate took an unexpected twist when he met up with Ray Charles. Yes, the iconic Ray Charles.

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How did Ray Charles end up in Seattle?

At 16, Ray Charles moved from Florida to Seattle for a thriving jazz city. Seattle’s jazz scene in the late 40s was a proper hot spot. 

Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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"Seattle in the 1940s was like New Orleans" - Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones.

Ray Charles loved that Seattle was as far away from Florida as possible. Not long after arriving in Washington, Ray met Quincy, a paperboy who wanted to learn music.

"Seattle was the big time. Moving there from Bremerton was like moving to Paris." -Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones.

Ray Charles - Ray Hearne/Keystone/Getty Images
A younger Ray Charles - Ray Hearne/Keystone/Getty Images
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Quincy's meeting Ray was similar to a young teenager, Paul McCartney, meeting John Lennon - two years older. Ray Charles had a knack for playing Nat King Cole songs - note for note perfect. He recruited Quincy to play trumpet in his band, and the classic Ray Charles style began to take shape. Ray eventually left Seattle and became known with his first hit, “It Shoulda Been Me,” in 1952. Ray and Quincy stayed close throughout their careers. 

In Washington, Ray Charles and Quincy Jones molded their style for more incredible things to come.

Quincy Jones, courtesy of Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Quincy Jones - in the mid-60s, courtesy of Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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