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CHAPTER 12 · Medical Problems of Musical Masters

Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Jazz Genre

Phillip L. Pearl, MD, FAES, FACNS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Abstract

This chapter discusses the neurological biographies of well-recognized artists and contributors to the jazz genre, providing a glimpse of their musical creations, how their work advanced the progression of music throughout the twentieth century, and how their neurological disorders affected their lives and musicality. Thelonious Monk had erratic moods, reflected in his piano playing, and ultimately was mute and withdrawn, succumbing to cerebrovascular events. Charlie Parker, the “Bird,” dealt with mood lability and drug dependence, the latter emanating from analgesics following an accident, and ultimately lived as hard as he played his famous bebop saxophone lines and arpeggios. The bassist Charlie Mingus hummed his last compositions into a tape recorder as he died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Bud Powell had severe posttraumatic headaches after being struck by a police stick defending his friend Thelonious Monk during a club raid. Herein lies a history of music and neurology exemplified by the lives and struggles of these musical giants.

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Cite this chapter

Chapter references below omit unverified page ranges and chapter-specific DOIs.

APA

Pearl, P. L. (2026). Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Jazz Genre. In P. L. Pearl & S. Arfaie (Eds.), Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press.

AMA

Pearl PL. Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Jazz Genre. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, eds. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press; 2026.

Vancouver

Pearl PL. Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Jazz Genre. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, editors. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2026.

Chicago

Pearl, Phillip L.. “Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Jazz Genre.” In Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity, edited by Phillip L. Pearl and Saman Arfaie. Cambridge University Press, 2026.

BibTeX

@incollection{chapter12_2026,
  author = {Pearl, Phillip L},
  title = {Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Jazz Genre},
  booktitle = {Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity},
  editor = {Pearl, Phillip L. and Arfaie, Saman},
  publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
  year = {2026}
}

Harvard

Pearl, P. L. (2026) “Neurology of the Musical Masters: The Jazz Genre”, in Pearl, P.L. and Arfaie, S. (eds.) Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Phillip L. Pearl

Phillip L. Pearl

MD, FAES, FACNS

Director of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology | Boston Children’s HospitalWilliam G. Lennox Chair and Professor of Neurology | Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School · Boston Children’s Hospital

Profile

Phillip L. Pearl is Director of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology at Boston Children’s Hospital and William G. Lennox Chair and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He studied at Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Conservatory of Music before attending the University of Maryland School of Medicine. His research focuses on inherited metabolic epilepsies, particularly disorders of GABA metabolism. A physician and musician, he has published extensively at the intersection of music and medicine and is Co-Editor in Chief of the seventh edition of Swaiman’s Pediatric Neurology.

Scholarship & professional background

His postgraduate training included a pediatric neurology residency at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, followed by fellowship training at Boston Children’s Hospital. Alongside his work on GABA-related disorders, he has developed educational projects connecting neurology with art and music, including Neurology Through Art and Time. His own musical practice encompasses jazz piano, vibraphone, and drums, informing a sustained interest in how musical experience and clinical neuroscience illuminate one another.

He also serves as Co-Director of the Epilepsy Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is a Fellow of the American Epilepsy Society and of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society, and a past president of both the Child Neurology Society and the Professors of Child Neurology. His honours include the American Epilepsy Society’s 2024 Fritz E. Dreifuss Award.

Selected work & perspectives

Phillip L. Pearl · Boston Children’s HospitalSwaiman’s Pediatric Neurology: Principles and Practice · Seventh editionNeuro-Logic: A Primer on LocalizationInherited Metabolic Epilepsies · Second editionResearch, publications, and clinical neuroscienceMusic, epilepsy, and the brain · International League Against EpilepsyFellowship and Fritz E. Dreifuss Award · American Epilepsy SocietyClinical neurophysiology credentials and pediatric EEG guidelines