The Queen's Cartoonists: Where jazz meets animation and hints of musical circus

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/ [login to see] /the-queens-cartoonists-where-jazz-meets-animation-and-hints-of-musical-circus
Watching the Queen's Cartoonists perform live is a spectacle. There are cartoons, alongside jazz, a wide range of musical instruments, noise-making props and on-stage shenanigans. The band performs the soundtrack to old classic cartoons and contemporary animated films, while the audience watches the films.

Playing music to visual media is not a novel concept. In fact, whole symphony orchestras tour the world performing to blockbuster movies like "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings." What the Queen's Cartoonists offer is a more unpredictable experience. The audience has no idea what music they will hear or even what cartoons they will watch, and what elements of comedy may be added. There are costumes, party whistles, clackers, tambourines, paper cups being tossed around, all adding to creating various sound effects.

"I get a lot of people that come up to me after shows and say, I didn't really know what to expect from this concert and now I saw it and I still don't know what to expect," says Joel Pierson, the composer and pianist of the band, "We really like that...the concert goer is engaged, because they don't really know what's coming up next."