Quincy Jones, who has died at the age of 91, spent much of his professional life as the coolest man in the room. For much of his seven-decade career, that room was a concert hall or a recording studio. He produced, arranged, composed, conducted and played with many of the greats of American music.

Here are a few of them: Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra (who dubbed Jones “Q”), Count Basie, Sammy Davis Jr, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, Lesley Gore, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, George Benson, Donna Summer and, yes, Michael Jackson on three albums, including 1982′s Thriller, still the biggest-selling album of all time.