The Jazz Cats
The Jazz Cats are a fictional jazz band consisting of three anthropomorphic felines. They were original characters created for the King for Another Day tournament, with their appearances based on a painting of the same name. The trio consists of Shades DuPris (saxophone), Tom "Milk Bowl" Malone (guitar) and sphelonious donk (piano).
The trio placed 6th overall in the competition, just barely getting into alumni.
Characters
Shades DuPris
Shades is the first member of the Jazz Cats. He is a black cat with large white spots of fur on his face and body. His paws and the tip of his tail are also white. His outfit consists of his trademark shades and turtleneck. Shades is a freshman at Barkley's College of SLAM!. His principle instrument is the saxophone. He likes Charlie Parker, and his favorite type of music is bebop music, "because it's the best kind of music"[1].
Shades has a very unapologetic and cocky attitude, believing his opinions are always correct, and claiming that he's "the best musician" even when supported by his equally competent partners[2]. This attitude means he butts heads with Milk Bowl early, though the two begrudgingly get along with one another after becoming bandmates.
Tom "Milk Bowl" Malone
Milk Bowl is the second member of the Jazz Cats. He is a light grey cat with thin, dark grey stripes across his face and body. His paws and the tip of his tail are white, and he wears a red necktie. Milk Bowl is a sophomore[3] at Barklee. His principle instrument is the guitar, which he received a scholarship for[4]. In contrast to Shades, Milk Bowl prefers to listen to artists such as Robert Glasper, Snarky Puppy, and Vulfpeck. These artists are decidedly more modern than Shades' tastes, and dip into styles like nu-jazz, jazz fusion, and funk.
Milk Bowl shows disdain for Shades when he first meets him, dismissing him as a "fucking high schooler bitch" and an "asshole", but later changes his opinions when he gets on stage with him to play Countdown. The two later still have banter between them, but this is more friendly than anything.
sphelonious donk
sphelonious donk is the third member of the Jazz Cats. He is an orange cat with a vertical User:Scar over his left eye. It is unknown if he a student at Barklee, or if he's even affiliated with the institution, but he is shown to work at both the Barklee cafeteria as a server[5] and at Starbucks as a manager[6]. Addition</nowiki>ally, Shades calls him "old man", implying that sphelonious donk is much older than both him and Milk Bowl[7]. He plays the piano.
sphelonious donk is the most enigmatic member of the Jazz Cats, speaking only in a lowercase fixed-width serif typeface. He often speaks in short phrases that are absurdist or referential in some way. His abilities include levitation, playing the piano with one arm, and causing people to implode. In essence, sphelonious donk is much of a wild card. The other two members of the Jazz Cats are wary of him for these reasons, but respect his playing nonetheless.
The Jazz Cats (series)
The Jazz Cats have their own mini-series published on YouTube that currently consists of two shorts. The episodes focus on the cats and the other characters of Barkley's College of SLAM!.
| Episode | Title | Release Date | Notes | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jazz Cats: The Beginning | 2019-21-09 | Premiered as part of SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day Tournament Direct 9.21.2019, as the trio's first reveal. | Not linked |
| 2 | Jazz Cats: The Ballads of Naxx and Doge | 2019-12-05 | Focuses on the secondary characters Naxx Guyfieri and Doge Mayer. The credits roll titles this episode as "Jazz Cats 2: The Ballads of Naxx and Doge", which is notably different from the video's posted title. | Link [9] |
Trivia
- Famous Wiki Camp player Rudy was referenced in Jazz Cats: The Ballads of Naxx and Doge, as a response to an edit he made of Jazz Cats: The Beginning where he completely removed Doge Mayer from the short.
- Coincidentally, this is the ideal watching experience for this episode.
- The concept for the Jazz Cats existed even before the painting that inspired their appearances was even found.
- Milk Bowl plays guitar, while the cat he was based on in the original painting plays upright bass.
- In addition, his guitar is a 7-string.
- Also, he says he might "whip out the bass" for a song but he ends up bringing his guitar to the jam?? i dont fucking get it man i'm tired[8].
- sphelonious donk commands three "minion" mice, who count off songs for the Jazz Cats and appear in their official render[9].
- Of these mice, one wears small sunglasses that resemble Shades', one has a piece of cheese, and one resides in donk's piano.
Notes
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Technically, this isn't confirmed, but Naxx Guyfieri is a sophomore and he shares a friend group with Milk Bowl. I don't really know why those two would be friends if they weren't in the same grade, so I'm pretty sure this is meant to be implied.
- ↑ "I dunno, dude. I got a scholarship for jazz guitar. What credentials do you have, dipshit?" [3]
- ↑ Visible here [4]
- ↑ [5]
- ↑ [6]
- ↑ [7]
- ↑ [8]