Quincy Jones [ tickets ] will deliver the keynote address at next year's South By Southwest Music Conference March 19 in Austin, TX, according to a press release.

The music business impresario is expected to discuss the power of music to influence and create positive change in the world. His speech also is expected to address the responsibility of the artist to use their craft to bring people together for the betterment of mankind.

Jones, who was named by Time Magazine as one of the six most influential jazz artists of the 20th Century, recently released the book "The Complete Qunicy Jones: My Journey and Passions." Other current and upcoming projects include a feature film documentary on Brazil's annual Carnival Festival that will benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Brazil's impoverished Favelas, a bio-pic mini-series on Louis Armstrong, a duets album with Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder, and a tribute album of his recordings featuring Usher, John Legend and Amy Winehouse, among others.

Jones also is planning to open a chain of nightclub-restaurants based on his album "Q's Jook Joint." The first is scheduled to open in Las Vegas in 2009.