Jazzing Up Your Image





business cartoon

Before I was a cartoonist, heck, before I’d even had a real job, I was a musician. A trombonist to be exact. And, to be even more exact, a jazz trombonist.

I discovered jazz early on and pretty much lived and breathed it as a kid. I have a music degree in trombone and even played professionally for a few years, but found it was too hard to make a living at, and even harder to find time and energy to practice as a newlywed in a one-room apartment while working a 40-hour week. So I hung it up and decided to try my hand at something I’d dabbled in, again, since I was a kid: cartooning.

Years later I hear about a company “jazzing up its image” and immediately imagined employees as Dizzy Gillespie circa the 1940s. Odd? Sure. Obscure? OK. But immensely fun for me personally.

3 Comments ▼

Mark Anderson Mark Anderson's cartoons appear in publications including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. His business cartoons are available for licensing at his website, Andertoons.com.

3 Reactions
  1. Mark – love this cartoon. As a musician first (based on timelines of course), and business guy I found it to be hilarious.

  2. Do you like big band jazz music? I wrote a tweet about Soundtracking to you. I think that could be a perfect combo with your cartoons.

  3. I immediately thought of Dizzy and how his cheeks would expand! I love his music. I didn’t start appreciating jazz until I was in my 40’s – pretty sad actually. Better late than never 🙂





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