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If I were forced to only listen to one genre for the rest of my life it would be jazz.

Jazz is the only music that has never failed in keeping elevated levels of happiness in my system.  It has become my drug of choice recently; being an au natural auditory seretonin booster.  Personally, I flock to music that offers no lyrics, or lyrics in another language, because I find that vocals and lyrics distract from the music itself.  The only thing you have when you listen to the majority of jazz is the arrangement, the music, and yourself.

So if jazz can have this effect on me, does it have the same effect on other people?

After looking around the internet quite a bit, I did find multiple blog posts about how jazz enhanced peoples’ moods.  Some posts even stated that jazz and classical music shuts off a part of the brain that worries too much, but I have yet to find a scientific study claiming this although I wouldn’t doubt it’s validity.  It also seems that the complexity of jazz music, just as classical music, can effect the brain in positive ways and increase memorization.  One blog even suggested that our brains are secretly counting as the the music is playing, thus firing up brain cells that we normally don’t use.  Regardless of what is true or not, its pretty obvious that jazz and other genres have a positive effect on the brain.

A study done on stroke recovery victims in Finland found that patients who listened to 2 or more hours of music a day (pop, jazz, folk, and classical) improved their verbal memory by 60% in three months over the patients who were not exposed to music.  Positive mood and increased cognitive skills were also reported.  Their findings proved that music therapy is an essential part to the recovery of all types of patients.

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The brains of jazz musicians themselves vastly change when playing improvised music over a memorized, composed piece. Two scientists from John Hopkins University, Dr. Charles J. Limb and Dr. Allen R. Braun, used an MRI and a specially made keyboard that would not interfere with the MRI’s magnets, to study jazz musicians.  The MRI showed that when they were playing a piece of improvised music versus memorized music there was a “disassociated frontal activity state” and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is a large portion of the front of the brain that extends to the sides, actually slowed down. What does this part of your brain do exactly? It is linked to “planned actions and self-censoring” which ultimately leads to lowered inhibitions. This type of lowered inhibition and creativity is vital to human development, artists and non-artists alike. Dr. Limb explains that “What we think is happening is when you’re telling your own musical story, you’re shutting down impulses that might impede the flow of novel ideas.” Its vital to every human because every day we are improvising- from the conversations we have to the small tasks we perform every day.

Here’s a nice short video of their study:

I’m no doctor or jazz musician, but I think it would be safe to say that in whatever way jazz music shuts off certain areas of the brain, it is also leads to elevated levels of euphoria.  It would make sense that turning off your inhibitions turns away negative thoughts and amps up your creativity, thus boosting those happy cells in your brain.

Enjoy listening.

Unit 7 by Wynton Kelly Trio & Wes Montgomery

II B.S. by Charles Mingus

Very Special by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, & Max Roach

The Feeling of Jazz by Duke Ellington & John Coltrane

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I wasn’t familiar with many acts playing at the Real Big Deal music festival in Gainesville this weekend (no, I am NOT a fan of Motion City Soundtrack). But I was pleasantly surprised by the smorgasbord of musical styles presented in the lineup, many of which wielding instruments I had never seen played live, let alone heard of (is that… tin cans around your neck??).

Here I present to you two extremely different music-making devices; both of which kept the crowd glued to the stage from opening chord to closing note with their unique and catchy sound.

1. Kora, as played by Toubab Krewe

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With 21 strings to choose from, the possibilities are pretty much endless on this thing. The musician sits with the strings facing him or her and plays with both hands, allowing for complex melodies and accompaniments. The base of the African lute-like instrument is covered with cow skin to help with resonation, and sounds somewhat like a harp when played. The man behind the sound, Justin Perkins, also had a run with the kamel ngoni, an instrument similar to the kora with 7-8 strings rather than 21. This multi-instrumentalist further lent his talents to the electric guitar, and to percussion during the group’s 10-minute-plus drumbeat number.

Listen: Devil Woman by Toubab Krewe

2. Charismo, as played by the Hackensaw Boys

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Now, I’ve never been a fan of country music, but it’s hard to classify the high-energy combination of classic Americana bluegrass and foot-stomping rock presented by these guys. My friends and I kept inching away to go to the bathroom, but couldn’t bring ourselves to leave until The Hackensaw Boys had finally retired their 6-piece folk instrument collection. Throughout the show, we also kept trying to figure out what contraption group member Justin “Salvage” Neuhardt had around his neck. Turns out it’s a make-shift percussion instrument- consisting of a washboard, some tins cans, a couple spoons, and God knows what else- dubbed a “charismo”. Gotta love a guy that plays an instrument you could compile from the contents of your recycling bin.

Listen: Look Out Dog, Slow Down Train by The Hackensaw Boys

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Two-piece Lightning Bolt have been hailed as one of the best noise rock bands by the hipster community thanks in part to their loud and chaotic music, intense performances done in the pit with the audience, and their gimmicky face masks. Of course hipsters are, like on most topics involving music, horribly wrong. Enter Ruins.

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Ruins is a noise rock band from Japan formed in 1985. Like Lightning Bolt, Ruins is made up of a drummer and a bassist that perform insanely complex hyper-speed noise rock. Unlike Lightning Bolt, they aren’t a one-note band and understand it takes more than just volume to make dynamic and innovative music. Due to the unconventional nature of their heavily technical and structured but frenzied music, most listeners - even those that are fans of Lightning Bolt - will find them a bit of a challenge to listen to.

Outburn by Ruins
Bug by Ruins
Ffilhizabmn (Live Version) by Ruins
Hyderomastgroningem (Live Version) by Ruins

The band is fronted by drummer/vocalist Tatsuya Yoshida, who has been the only consistent member of the band as they’ve gone through four bassists to-date. Yoshida was heavily influenced by French drummer Christian Vander and his progressive group Magma, even going so far as singing in Vander’s made-up language known as “Kobaïan.” Weird doesn’t even begin to describe these guys.

Ruin’s discography is made up of over 30 albums, including EPs and collaborations with like-minded musicians like Keiji Haino, Jason Willett, and Kazuhisa Uchihashi. I recently unloaded six or so of their albums into Grooveshark’s library, so have at it.

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There’s something very odd going on at Harajuku Station in Japan. No, it’s not the adults bouncing around dressed as comic book babies. It’s not the crowds dressed as their favorite Dragonball Z character. I can even overlook the schoolgirl goth-Lolita based on extensive experience dealing with Floridian emo kids. But Rockabilly has regrown roots in Tokyo, and the only thing I can think is, Elvis is dead, guys.

Now, I don’t mean to poke fun. Being the seasoned and wise journalist I am, I feel it is my duty to present topics of intrigue in an impartial light. All that tripe gets thrown out the moment you comb your pompadour higher than nine inches. So I give you the most hilarious misinterpretation of a music movement I have ever seen:

A skill vital to Rockabilly cred: The Air Guitar

Group Choreography optional

And by far the best - if only for Gold Tiger-Print Elvis

I don’t think there’s anything left to say.

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There have been times at shows where we’ve become so inspired that we wanted to jump on stage with the band. They’re ripping into an epic guitar solo and sometimes it’s difficult to resist the urge to leap on stage and join them in their riotous shredding. However, it’s generally considered to be an epic faux pas reserved only for the creepiest of die hards. We try not to do it as much as possible.

Sometimes fans take it too far and end up physically interacting with the band on stage. There are varying degrees of how bad this is, ranging from colossally moronic to only mildly stupid. Both Robbie Williams and Noel Gallagher know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a push into the crowd, while Jeff Tweedy knows that the only recourse when a fan enters your peripheral vision is to pop him right in the noggin. While a lot of these occurences are laugh out loud funny (who hasn’t wanted to chuck Noel Gallagher into the crowd at one point?), it often doesn’t end well for the perpetrator. Either way they slice it, they’re getting a beatdown from someone.

Without further ado, here are some cases where fans have rushed the stage to both humorous and disastrous results (Dimebag Darrel intentionally omitted).

Jeff Tweedy Throws a Haymaker

Wilco’s frontman may be a sensitive singer-songwriter type, but don’t get on his bad (right) side. You will be entering a fracas you are ill prepared to fight. At about 1:10 in the video a fan rushes on stage and starts celebrating his own idiocy by placing his arm around Tweedy. A visibly distressed Tweedy turns around, blindly swings, and then pushes the offender off the stage. He then addresses the crowd and requests that they not charge the stage when he’s “singing his heart out”. The best part is probably the band’s drummer who rises from his kit to get Tweedy’s back. Heavy metal drummer, for real.

Robbie Williams Flies Through The Air Compliments of A Lunatic

Initially, this video is pretty funny. Robbie Williams is on stage completely hamming it up to what looks like a gigantic audience, and a fan comes out of nowhere and pushes him like 10 feet off stage. To his credit, Williams climbs back on stage and promises not to let one crazy person ruin the show for the rest of the people. At this point it seems like everything is fine until the interview with Williams after the show where he struggles to hold back tears when describing it. Bonus points if you can wade through the thick British accent and understand what the hell he’s saying half the time.

Noel Gallagher Gets Either Comeuppance or Viciously Attacked

Depending on the way you look at it, Noel Gallagher either deserved to get pushed into the crowd or it’s a complete travesty. I’m inclined to agree with the latter opinion because there’s really nothing cool about blindsiding someone and chucking them into a throng of people. What’s more, Gallagher hurt his ribs and Oasis was forced to cancel several tour dates. The only good thing that happened was that the assailant was on the receiving end of a pretty epic ass kicking from security. Thom Yorke smiles.

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