Jazz Legend Quincy Jones Receives Lifetime AKG Achievement Award
Since 1947, AKG Acoustics has operated as a successful acoustics engineering and manufacturing company as well as a subsidiary of Harman International Industries, which is a division of Samsung Electronics. On Tuesday, November 12th, 2019, AKG held a special event at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California. The event celebrated AKG’s 70th anniversary as well as the legacy of music legend Qunicy Jones. This event was the perfect gathering for top producers, musicians, DJs, and music industry professionals to come together in honoring the legendary producer as he received the AKG Lifetime Achievement Award.
AKG Award Show Highlights
Multi-Grammy Award-Winning Singer, Jacob Collier.
In addition to being honored AKG’S Lifetime Achievement Award, guests attending Capitol’s historic A and B studios were treated to a performance by Quincy Jones’ protégé and multi-Grammy award winner, Jacob Collier. AKG’s award show culminated with the removal of a dividing wall between Studios A and B for a special performance by Collier who paid tribute to Jones by singing three of the producer’s biggest hits, which included:
This, along with many immersive experiences helped celebrate the AKG microphone and headphone brands’ iconic past while showcasing its rich future. But the evening’s high point moment came when the host and broadcast journalist Nic Harcourt presented Quincy Jones the AKG Lifetime Achievement Award. This honor came as the result of Quincy Jone’s contribution to music, which has been going on since the early 1950s.
Quincy Jones Looks Back On Career
American Record Producing Legend, Quincy Jones
Upon receiving the AKG lifetime achievement award, Quincy Jones commented on how “For almost seven decades in this business as a musician, composer, arranger, conductor, and producer, I have always gone for the music that gives me goosebumps. And whether it was Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, and the Count Basie Orchestra, the Brothers Johnson, Michael Jackson, the artists who contributed to the recordings of We Are The World, right up until today, without fail that music was delivered through AKG audio products,” Jones also said “As you celebrate your 70thanniversary, I have no doubt in my mind that AKG will continue to be an essential part of the music recording and listening experience for many, many more decades to come.”
AKG’S Humble Legacy
Vice President of Global Marketing HARMAN Professional, Erik Tarkiainen
When elaborating on the legacy of AKG and Quincy Jones, Vice President of Global Marketing HARMAN Professional, Erik Tarkiainen said that “Throughout his legendary career, Quincy Jones has created some of the most iconic records in the history of the recording industry and we are honored to present him with a Lifetime Achievement Award,” Erick also stated that “For 70 years, AKG has been creating headphones and microphones that empower the spirit of creativity and innovation, and no one embodies that spirit more than Quincy.”
AKG’s success can be found through the efforts of the great people working for it. Some of these incredible individuals include DK Kita Klane who helped set a classic vibe in Studio A. Klane accomplished this by mixing old-school classics from the 1950s through the 1980s. Another example of the great team working at AKG is Nic Harcourt who worked in the control room, hosting discussions with renowned acoustics expert Dr. Sean Olive that centered on the art of listening.
DJ/Producer, Austin Millz
DJ Austin Millz is another example. In Studio B, guests were treated to what could only be seen as the future of music, and this was all thanks to Millz’s creativity. In the control room, a mixing station provided guests the opportunity to plug in AKG K371 studio headphones to mixers and hear the classic Quincy Jones hit “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. By listening to these individual instruments and vocal tracks, guests were able to create their own unique mixes of the song live. Guests were also able to use a range of AKG studio headphones that allowed them to listen to various classic Quincy hits that spanned the decades of work he provided to the record industry, and they were able to do this in the very same ISO booths that many of those songs, samples, and sounds were originally recorded in.
In Conclusion
AKG’s celebratory event was all thanks to AKG and Harman International Industries. Harman designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises on a worldwide scale, while including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions, and services that support the Internet of Things. Several of Harman’s leading brands include:
In March 2017, Harman became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and since then, it has been a beacon of admiration for audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform worldwide. Over 50 million automobiles today have been installed with Harman audio and connected car systems. Harman also provides software services that powers billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms. This connection ranges from work, home, car and even mobile.
