If you’re a big enough fan of Quincy Jones, you’d know that his middle name is ‘Delight’. You’d also know that the maverick is getting ready to celebrate his 75th birthday. But leave it to Uncle Q to celebrate in musical style: supported by the Swiss Army Big Band, over 20 artists will be gathered on stage at the 42nd Montreux Jazz festival, to perform a fitting tribute to the great man himself.

Billed as the highlight of this year’s festival, the tribute concert will feature a variety of artists from the legendary Chaka Khan and Herbie Hancock to relative newcomers James Morrison and Paolo Nutini. The performer’s list reads like a who’s who of musical talent. But this should hardly come as a surprise, considering the expanse of Jones’ influence in the musical realm.

Having co-produced the Festival from 1991 – 1993, Jones oversaw a sizeable portion of its expansion and had a considerable stake in evolving the festival from a purely jazz-centric festival into a world music extravaganza.
All proceeds from ticket sales go to the Quincy Jones Listen Ip foundation

July 18-20 (this Friday-Sunday) is the 10th Annual Harlem Book Fair. For a full list of events, go here.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 7:00pm
B&N Tribeca (97 Warren Street)
Michael Ian Black: My Custom Van

Michael Ian Black will be at the Tribeca Barnes & Noble Tuesday to read from (or discuss, or make fun of, or something) his new collection of essays, My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face. Sarah Silverman says it’s “Fun to read while you’re pooping.” That’s good enough for me.

Wednesday, July 16, 7:00pm
B&N Tribeca (97 Warren Street)
Grandmaster Flash

Two B&N events this week because they’re so good. Grandmaster Flash has a memoir out, Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats, and he’ll be at the Tribeca B&N Wednesday. Do I really need to say more than that?

Thursday, July 17, 7:00pm
McNally Robinson (52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Dzanc Books and Friends

Dzanc Books is an upstart indie publisher. On Thursday Aaron Petrovich of Hotel St. George Press will host a reading by the contributing authors of Best of the Web (Dzanc Books), including Garth Risk Hallberg, Cara Hoffman, Sarah Sweeney, Justin Taylor, Tess Taylor, and Claudia Zuluaga. Joshua Kornreich will read from his novel The Boy Who Killed Caterpillars (Marick Press) and Peter Markus will read from Bob, or Man on Boat , published by Dzanc Books.