Organized Improv: Jazz Music, The Pink Panther, and Subtle References to Marijuana

Life, as I know it, is organized improv.

No matter how my 800+ CD collection would reflect it, my favorite kind of music is jazz.  I probably became subconsciously aware of it back in high school when my favorite movie was That Thing You Do!, where after the drummer, Guy “Shades” Patterson realizes his short-lived career in The Wonders is over, stumbles into a jam session with Del Paxton, in which he immediately begins his new career as a studio jazz musician and eventually a jazz instructor. (I just gave away the ending to that movie, but you’ve had 14 years to see it.)

At the same time, I began watching Late Night with Conan O’Brien, whose house band was and still is a jazz-based.  I began realizing that jazz was both sophisticated and classy while being laid-back and seemingly off-beat all at the same time.  What made me consciously aware of my love for jazz actually occurred last week.  As much as I enjoyed watching Animal Planet and reruns of Saved by the Bell on TBS as I got up with my 7 week-old son to feed him each morning at 6:30 AM, after a few weeks I begin to desire more substance in my half-awake entertainment choice.  And that’s when I dove into the abyss called Music Choice.  It’s that series of around 30 music channels or so that has a selection for basically every kind of music.  Like a poor man’s version of a Pop Up Video Marathon on VH1 Classic, the channel of choice constantly plays an infinite library of songs in that particular genre while displaying trivial facts about the song and artist being featured.

Predictably, my new favorite TV channel is 86-31 on Music Choice: Jazz, which is virtually all-instrumental songs.  Having those free-spirited melodies playing in the background is a great way to start each day.  I suppose that listening to jazz together is the first of many bonding experiences my son Jack and I will have. Maybe the thing I love most about jazz is that I can virtually listen to any song, and unlike most genres of music, I don’t get distracted by the song itself.  Instead, the song always seems to enhance the sensory experience of whatever I am doing at the moment.

In a way, all jazz music sounds the same to me.  I’m no jazz connoisseur: I can’t tell you much about the many mini-genres of jazz that exist or an exhaustive history of jazz or the best jazz artists and albums ever, nor do I need to. Though I have observed that the majority of jazz musicians are either African-American (click here for a list) since they are the wonderful inventors of jazz; and when they’re not African-American, then they’re typically Jewish (click here for a list).  I love the fact that I don’t have to add any jazz CD’s to my collection.  At any point, I can just turn the radio to a jazz station and I’m good to go.

And my official realization of my love of jazz also explains why no matter what I might say in the heat of the moment, my favorite cartoon show is The Pinker Panther.  I own every single episode ever made on DVD.  If I had to choose a cartoon character to represent myself, it would definitely be him.  He is confident in his masculinity, yet is okay with the fact he is not only pink, but also naked in public.  A parallel here is that I am not the over-testeroned pack leader (therefore symbolizing the color pink) but instead a confident stray, and that by documenting my life (both in allusions and straight written documentary) on Scenic Route Snaphsots, I am also “naked” in that I bear so much of my life to everyone.

The Pink Panther is clever and charming, yet never the hero, the Romeo, or the superstar. While he is constantly interacting with the abstract world around him, at his core, he is ultimately a loner. He is simply an easy-going cat who doesn’t let stuff bother him; even if a French dude is constantly trying to capture him or blow him up, old-school bomb style.  Not only does The Pink Panther inhibit every cartoonish aspect of me, he also represents every aspect of jazz music.  He rarely speaks (he primarily shares ideas with others through thought clouds, which in a way is what I do with my writings), nor do any other characters on the show. So instead, jazz music is the communication tool of the show.

I am the Pink Panther.  The Pink Panther is jazz.  Jazz is organized improv.  My life suddenly makes more sense now.

If you liked this post, then there is definitely an 85% chance you’ll like this one too: Why Tap Dancing is Officially Masculine.