Jojo Mayer's Nerve Tickets

Unique live experience. The chemistry between the band is exquisite. This is Jazz of the 21st century.

There are many drummers, with many styles, ideas and experience but when Jojo puts it all together, it's something new and fun. It's hard to describe to the average person unless they witness it live for themselves. They'll be amazed at the musicianship as they see that Jojo and his mates are really playing what sounds like a recording. It's a great distraction from the norm of bands and I have every intention of witnessing it over and over as Jojo's concepts always stay current and unique. I would recommend his performance to anyone who is serious about music or wants to have a good time.

Disappointing. I've been catching Jojo since the Probited Beatz days, downstairs at the Izzy Bar. Usually can't get enough, but this time I left before the first set was even over! Too much emphasis on just being "loud" in a sort of psychedelic/dubstep kind of way, not enough emphasis on good clean satisfying drumming... Just a matter of taste, guess I'm a little old-school...

I have watched dozens of video of Nerve playing on clubs. The Prohibited Beatz documentary. Jojo's playing in different occasions, etc etc etc. I couldn't process electronica until I heard and saw Nerve. They completely changed my mind. Now I am going through its story with Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno and so on.

The recent debates over the validity of "jazz" and other improvisational genres that have fallen on hard times, as heard through the multiple blogs permeating the internet, would lead one to believe that the live, spontaneous performance is all but dead, especially to the general populace. One visit to a JoJo Mayer & Nerve concert would destroy that notion. This, quite simply, is the future of improvised music. Utilizing effects to create sonic tapestries over a hard driving dubstep/drum&bass groove, Nerve straddles the line between orchestrated texture and improvisational agression. JoJo Mayer is quite simply one of the most electrifying drummers in the world and has used his chops to further a new genre - live dubstep. This has to be seen to believed. There is really nothing else like it anywhere.

Jojo Mayer & Nerve held a capacity crowd spellbound as they (Jojo Mayer, drums; John Davis, bass; Takuya Nakamura, keyboards & trumpet) roared through tunes recognizable from their latest LP (the distance between zero and one) and explored improvisationally an equal number of new themes-in-development. The percentage of people dancing increased steadily through both sets. You simply cannot NOT move to Nerve's beats and deep grooves. Okay, I suppose if you're a drummer studying Jojo's technique you can't dance when your jaw's on the floor, but by the night's end even the drummers were forgetting themselves and davening like chasidim.