Posts Tagged ‘Conservatory’
Research: Jazz and the Brain
Posted in Music
Jazz Improvisation Transports the Human Brain to a Different Realtiy
New research by John Hopkins University and National Institute of Health scientists found that the brains of improvising jazz musicians operate in a fundamentally different way than those of musicians playing a memorized, composed melody. .
The study was under the direction of Charles Limb, a hearing specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital and teacher at the University, lecturer on the neuroscience of music and music perception at Peabody Conservatory of Music, is also a jazz saxophonist.
Jazz and the Brain Research Methods
Designing effective equipment for watching the brain at work is difficult. Limb and Allen Braun, who co-authored the paper published in the journal PLoS One, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to look into their subject brains. The device emits a strong magnetic field, which creates images based on the movement of blood through the brain. Interpreting the images is based on the idea that blood flows in larger amounts to active areas of the brain.
A Jazz Instrument that would Work inside a Scanner
The researchers created a keyboard with no magnetic parts that could be linked to a computer outside the scanner. It plays like a piano, but when someone presses a key, it actually sends a signal to a computer, which then sends a sound sample from a real piano into a set of headphones worn by the musician in the scanner. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: activity, area, areas of the brain, artist, behavior, blood, Brain, brain at work, brain research, computer, Conservatory, conservatory of music, control, cortex, Creation, Creativity, Designing, device, Different, direction, door, dorsolateral, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, elevate, equipment, field, fMRI, functional magnetic resonance, functional magnetic resonance imaging, Health, health scientists, hearing, Hopkins, Hospital, human, idea, imaging, improvisation, improvising jazz, inactivity, increase, inhibition, Institute, Instrument, Interpreting, jazz, jazz improvisation, jazz instrument, jazz musicians, jazz saxophonist, John, john hopkins university, Johns, johns hopkins hospital, journal, KEY, keyboard, Laying, lecturer, Machine, magnetic resonance imaging, medial, Melodies, melody, Memorized, memory, Methods, midst, motor, movement, Music, music perception, musical, musician, National, nature, neuroscience, New, noisy, Paper, part, Peabody, peabody conservatory of music, perception, piano, PLoS, plos one, prefrontal, Realtiy, research, resonance, sample, saxophonist, scale, Scanner, set, signal, someone, sound, specialist, study, teacher, University, university lecturer, way, work
Nat King Cole’s Family
Posted in celebrities
Singer Nat King Cole (“Nat King Cole Biography,” bio.com) died in 1965. Many fans feared his death was ending an era of smooth pop songs. Others regretted that Cole had tended to desert his jazz roots in favor of popular tunes that sold well, often backed by bland string orchestras.
Vocalist Nat King Cole Finds a Niche in Pop Tunes
Born in Montgomery, AL, in 1919, Nat King Cole soon moved with his family to Chicago, where his father became a church pastor. Cole’s mother, the church organist, taught him to play the organ. Soon he was learning classical and jazz piano. By 1937 Nat King Cole was playing Los Angeles club dates. he eventually organized a trio. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: abuse, age, ailment, alto, attraction, band, better success, bio, black entertainers, brother, cancer, Capitol, career, chicago clubs, church, church organist, circle, club, cole nat king, com, comeback, concert, Conservatory, conservatory of music, contract, daughter, death, degree, dialysis, drug, earl bostic, era, ETonline, family, father, favor, February, Footsteps, freddy cole, group, habitual, Hepatitis, home, Honored, hope, illness, instrumental recordings, jazz, jazz piano, jazz roots, job, Julliard, julliard school of music, kidney, legacy, love, lung, march, Massachusetts, Master, mining, Moon, mother, Music, nat king cole, nat king cole biography, NBC, network, new england conservatory, new england conservatory of music, Niche, Oct, October, organ, organist, Paper, paper moon, pastor, performance, pianist, piano, pop, pop tunes, prejudice, quartet, rebellion, rhythm, right, road, Route, saxophonist, school, Sentimental, show, singer, smoker, Straighten, string, string orchestras, success, Sweet, sweet lorraine, throat, transplant, tribute, trio, Tunes, Unforgettable, University, Unsure, Update, variety, vocalist, World, year