Plas Johnson, Free Bluegrass and Christopher Nolan’s Trojan Horse

The episode opens with the passing of saxophonist Plas Johnson, 94, a player whose name might not mean much outside musician circles but whose sound is embedded in popular culture. Johnson’s cool, slinking work on Henry Mancini’s Pink Panther theme is his best-known contribution, but the wider CV is properly formidable: Frank Sinatra, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, The Beach Boys, Nat King…