Quincy Jones’ Qwest TV will kick off December 15th. The subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) service is described as the “Netflix of Jazz.” Jones worked with television producer Reza Ackbaraly to create the service that completed a successful Kickstarter campaign in the Fall that raised $170,000.

Qwest TV has exclusive jazz content and archives of over 100 concerts, interviews, documentaries and related content that will be available on computers, tablets and mobile devices. Subscriptions start at $7.49 per month and customers can choose Standard or Premium service with both options being ad-free.

Gregory Porter, Aretha Franklin, Robert Glasper, Sun Ra, Macy Gray, Elvin Jones and Al Jarreau are some of the artists that will be featured upon the service’s initial launch.  The complete catalog can be viewed at www.qwest.tv/catalog. Subscriptions for Qwest TV can be purchased at www.qwest.tv .

[youtube id=”pd9wMHKMj6E”] Quincy Jones covered The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer In The City” for his 1973 album, You’ve Got It Bad Girl.  Jones had already branched out from his jazz roots in the ’60s with his interest in bossa nova, soul and pop. “Summer In The City” was an upbeat rock composition and Jones changed it into a mellow after dark piece ideal for lounging on a sofa at home or in a club. Jones and  Valerie Simpson provided minimal vocals to the mostly instrumental version. A year earlier he worked on Donny Hathaway’s Come Back Charleston Blue soundtrack and these things were a part of his successful run in the ’70s and ’80s as the producer of R&B and pop albums for The Brothers Johnson and Michael Jackson. The theme song to Sanford And Son, and covers of “You Got It Bad Girl” and “Superstition” made You’ve Got It Bad Girl a necessary addition to any collector of Jones’ work. “Summer In The City” re-emerged in the ’90s as the main sample of  The Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By.”

Quincy Jones and TV producer Reza Ackbaraly are launching Qwest TV, the first and only video-on-demand service dedicated to jazz and jazz-inspired forms. The service will debut in the fall and subscriptions start at $7.49  per month. The pre-launch of the service is in September via Kickstarter and the first 1500 subscribers will have the privilege of helping to shape the product before its official start. According to Jones,

“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 70-year career in music I have witnessed firsthand 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 Mozarts, Bachs, Chopinss and Tchaikovskys, 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.”

Pre-launch subscribers will get Qwest TV Premium for a year, VIP access to the Qwest team to offer feedback, concert tickets, and special merchandise.

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Hypetrak Magazine arranged for Kendrick Lamar to meet Quincy Jones and they talk about the origins of rap, the formula for success, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the importance of keeping the culture in hip-hop.