EVERY GENRE PROJECT - April 26 - Cartoon Music
Genre of the Day - Cartoon Music
Album of the Day - Bug Music (Music of the Raymond Scott Quintette, John Kirby & His Orchestra, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra) by Don Byron (1996)
April 26, 2024
Cartoons are one of the most wonderful mediums of music. I found one of my favorite Hawaiian songs ever and one of the most gorgeous melodies I’ve encountered through listening to an album Spongebob’s creators selected from. There’s Daria’s soundtrack serving as an iconic ‘90s alt-rock testimonial, seamlessly enveloping the viewer in the grunginess of the ‘90s. But cartoon music’s undeniable peak came as the genre was in its early golden age: think Looney Tunes.
Looney Tunes and similar shows like Tom and Jerry likely wouldn't be half as memorable without their swinging, jazzy soundtracks accompanying the absurd moments. When tackling adding music to shows about animals that barely speak and that mostly follow their antics, you have to be a little more creative than adding background music under sustained dialogues as in movies. Thus, cartoon music took on avant-garde stylistic choices using jaunty swing music as its sonic palette, with enough quirks and situational uniqueness to make it its own genre. Just watch the way in this clip various instrumental flourishes add emphasis to everything going on visually with our poor Wile E. Coyote, helping the listener take in every aspect of the visual composition a little better and supercharging the slapstick comedy.
This swing jazz tailored for colorful, dynamic, absurd cartoons was largely pioneered by one man: Raymond Scott. Also notable for his gorgeous, sweeping jingles, the genius composer utilized busy but highly coordinated syncopated compositions with rapid, stark transitions to keep the listener on their toes. What better approach than that to add some pizzazz to a cartoon? A highly meticulous sound engineer and trailblazing electronic musician, he also invented a machine called the electronium that would generate melodies on its own, a forerunner to AI music programs by over fifty years. He even sold one electronium to Motown, but their musical creativity was evidently down by the ‘70s when they made the purchase—no recordings with the uncanny instrument have been identified.
Today’s album is an assembly by clarinetist Don Byron of some of the most important compositions utilized in cartoons by Scott like “Powerhouse” as well as a few other iconic swing numbers by John Kirby and Duke Ellington. “Powerhouse” alone is a spectacle to take in: a delirious mix of swirling horns, saxes, clarinets, with a pause in the middle quickly succumbing to the technicolor madness again. “Royal Garden Blues” features aptly regal horn fanfare announcements punctuating the light swing. We also get a taste of Duke Ellington's unconventional piano voicings on “Blue Bubbles.” It’s a marvelous feat of music that always manages to keep the listener on the edge of their aural seat, one that combines the best of jazz creativity with precision down to the millisecond of when a particular point of the scene would take place. It’s a testimony to the interconnectedness of our visual media and our most treasured music, and how each brings the other to life.