Shinichirō Watanabe is a verifiable Big Jazz Boy. From his breakthrough 1998 anime Cowboy Bebop (I mean, just look at that title) to today, his love for the big blasting bugles has been made more than clear—perhaps never more so than in Kids On the Slope, his 2012 series following a year in the lives of four teenagers in 1966 as they become friends, fall in love, and play that sweet, sweet jazz.
While Watanabe brought acclaimed Bebop composer Yoko Kanno back on board at the keys and composition table for Kids, the show revels in the classics, with each episode named after a jazz standard, a number of which are included in the soundtrack. He did similarly with the Bebop episode titles. Watanabe is Saxophone, Sultan of Bugles. He wants to drown in the Ocean of Trumpets.
As such, in the spirit of Watanabe and in the name of Jazz Boys everywhere, I , The Dot and Line’s resident Big Jazz Boy, have half-heartedly ranked each Kids On the Slope title song. (Don’t worry, ladies and non-binary folks. Everyone, regardless of sex/gender, is the Jazz Boy!) It is half-hearted because, let’s be real, all these songs are perfect. I’ve also embedded one of my personal favorite versions of each song, with the caveat that I have, like, 27 favorite versions of each of these songs. (Except maybe Jazzman Miles Davis’s “All Blues.” Miles is Miles is Miles.) May they swell your body with Trumpet Jelly. May you swim in the Ocean of Trumpets like fish.
12. Miles Davis, “All Blues” (Episode 12.: All Blues)
11. Oscar Peterson, “Now’s the Time” (Episode 7.: Now’s the Time)
10. Eric Dolphy, “Left Alone” (Episode 11.: Left Alone)
9. John Coltrane, “But Not for Me” (Episode 4.: But Not for Me)
8. Chet Baker, “You Don’t Know What Love Is” (Episode 6.: You Don’t Know What Love Is)
7. Ella Fitzgerald, “Summertime” (Episode 2.: Summertime)
6. Bill Evans, “Someday My Prince Will Come” (Episode 3.: Someday My Prince Will Come)
5. Sarah Vaughan and Clifford Brown, “Lullaby of Birdland” (Episode 5.: Lullaby of Birdland)
4. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, “Moanin’” (Episode 1.: Moanin’)
3. Billie Holiday, “Love Me or Leave Me” (Episode 9.: Love Me or Leave Me)
2. Dexter Gordon, “In a Sentimental Mood” (Episode 10.: In a Sentimental Mood)
1. Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, “These Foolish Things” (Episode 8.: These Foolish Things)
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