Posts Tagged ‘increase’
Research: Jazz and the Brain
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 »
California: Summer Jazz Series
Jazz is an American style of music. It began in America’s Deep South and has spread throughout the country. Jazz festivals and concerts are now part of American culture and pop culture. In the film High Society, the Newport (Rhode Island) Jazz festival was part of the story. The Newport Jazz Festival began in 1954. In the years since the Newport Jazz Festival began, Jazz has worked its way across the country from Newport, Rhode Island to Newport Beach, California.
The 2010 Newport Beach Summer Jazz Series
“With an ensemble of top musicians in the genre for the 2010 series, this year’s outstanding group of performers showcase a range of jazz sonance from traditional to contemporary and smooth jazz, to R&B and big band,” said Event Producer and Promoter Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald of Wendy Jayne Productions, Inc. “Our vision this year – as the new event management company – is to enhance the popular series with expanded talent, increase outreach to the public, heighten community involvement and sponsorships, and give an overall polished identity to grow the series for years to come,” explained Fitzgerald in a press release to publicize the event. Read the rest of this entry »