Bobby McFerrin
The New York Times says: "Bobby McFerrin is an accomplished musician who burst onto the a cappella world in the ...80's. Often appearing alone on stage, Mr. McFerrin sang multiple parts in a cappella renditions of popular and original songs. If a rhythm was needed, he produced it with his voice or his body...... He started making people aware of what you could do with one voice and one body..... He pointed to a new direction for vocal music, so people started listening with a fresh set of ears."
Newsweek says: "The critics in Germany call him "Stimmwunder" (wonder voice), and it's not hard to understand why. There is something almost superhuman about the range and technique of jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin. he sounds, by turns, like a blackbird, a Martian, an operatic soprano, a small child and a be-bop trumpet."
The Nation says: "McFerrin is an inspired performer. For years now, he's been enacting a mild form of audience participation as jazz improvisation, structuring what he does around spur-of-the-moment ideas and whims that, thanks to his enormous talent and deft practice, translate into a good time for all."
The Los Angeles Times says: "The hyperkinetic, superpersonable, wide-ranging singer, scion of a family of musicians, does more than vocalize, conduct and product music. He lives it."
Primarily A Cappella says: There is no doubt in our minds that this is the single most important a cappella singer of our time. His inspiring creations pushed the boundaries of our horizons so far that legions of singers have yet to begin exploring the possibilities of which he made us aware. You see, by his actions he proved that there are no boundaries. We can't begin to tell you how he got there but we can give an idea of what he did on the way to becoming the world's only one man vocal band.
His parents were both classical singers who supported young Bobby's study of musical theory at age six. Throughout his high school years in Los Angeles the piano was his primary instrument. It was in 1977 that he heard an internal voice saying sing, Sing, SING! He had by that time completed his formal education and practical education as well, touring with the Ice Follies, a series of pop bands, cabaret acts and dance troupes. His inspiration to sing was first channeled into piano and voice jazz improvisations. Then in 1983 he began to give a cappella solo performances which led to a tour in Germany where he received tremendous acclaim. In short order, due to numerous appearances on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, where he was a treasured guest, combining his talents with numerous artists such as Manhattan Transfer, Herbie Hancock, Jon Hendricks and Robin Williams he became a well known creative luminary.
His awards and honors are just too numerous to discover them all. Ten Grammies and multiple CARAs leap to mind. One great wonder of Bobby McFerrin has been his desire to share his creative spirit with other singers and with groups of young people. After his work with Voicestra, his vocal orchestra, he went on to conduct the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra which he joined in April of 1994 as Creative Chair. He has conducted numerous symphony orchestras including the New Your Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the London Philharmonic. In his discography are not only solo works but improvisation duets with internationally renown cellist Yo-Yo Ma, two with Chick Corea, one with Voicestra (and a few songs on Medicine Man) and a collaboration with The Yellow Jackets.
Does his creative vision have any end. No, it doesn't. As we write this cursory profile of someone who is constantly adventuring, Bobby McFerrin is on a performing sabbatical in order to compose an opera with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner. When this commission by the San Francisco Opera is premiered in September of 2001 who knows in what direction he will head. Let's hope our future holds some more of his a cappella. It's possible because he said, "I love to sing and I love to be adventuresome. It's like the thrill of your first hang-gliding experience, standing on top of a mountain and getting ready to jump off--you've got faith in this big kite in back of you. With me, it's the same way with singing, especially a cappella."
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Invocation Kalimba Suite A Silken Road Fertile Field Dervishes Ziggurat Sisters Circlings Chanson Windows Marlowe Mass Pat & Joe Taylor Made A Piece, A Chord Monks / The Sheperd |
Bobby, the a cappella legend, may have crossed the line into the land of accompaniment on "Beyond Words," but let us just say that there is accompaniment, and then there is Chick Corea on piano, with musicians of similar stature on bass, percussion, drums and guitar, and Bobby himself playing the Roland XP-80 synthesizer. Let us also say that Bobby McFerrin has heavily influenced (many would say personally created) the resurgence in a cappella music in the last two decades, and that that was no mistake or lucky break. He is an artist who pushes the vocal jazz envelope, and he's pushing it here. 16 songs that take Bobby's artwhat he does better than anyone elsethat is, use his voice as an incredibly multi-faceted instrument, to create sounds and moods that no one has ever created before. "Invocation," "Kalimba Suite," "A Silken Road"each is a little masterpiece of vocal and instrumental improvisation, as beautiful and earth pastel-colored as the stunning liner notes. Listen and be in awe!
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4489 CD $15.98 |
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Don't Worry, Be Happy Friends Thinkin' About Your Body Spain Freedom Is A Voice Drive My Car Another Night In Tunisia Blue Bossa Turtle Shoes Good Lovin' From Me To You Bang!Zoom |
Bobby McFerrin is known to commercial audiences by virtue of the monster radio friendly hit, "Don't Worry, Be Happy." However, to judge him by that one song is like evaluating all automobiles by the Edsel. In actuality, his brilliance as an innovative vocalist and writer far exceeds his mainstream appeal, and with collaborators such as Chick Corea on piano, this recording is is overwhelmingly good. Listen to "Blue Bossa," where Bobby's gutteral growls menace and alarm; or the heat-infused "Friends," which is a sultry Al Jarreau type contemporary jazz tune; "Spain" is a tour-de-force, where the singer alternates between providing the percussion and bass accompaniment to the piano with a panoply of vocal sounds. McFerrin can entreat sweetly in one breath and then leap into a frenzy of notes, each cascading into the other with a fierce intensity that is practically animalistic. A unique talent.
| 4161 CD $14.98 |
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Bobby McFerrin: Circlesongs Circlesong One Circlesong Two Circlesong Three Circlesong Four Circlesong Five Circlesong Six Circlesong Seven Circlesong Eight |
We can always expect something new from Mr. McFerrin. Circlesongs is a recording of eight spontaneous vocal improvisations sung by twelve singers and Bobby. Three basses, three tenors, three altos and three sopranos create the vocal textures around which Bobby weaves his lilting solos. The songs are very like chant because of the repeating and rhythmic sounds which truly have a circular sound. Words are eschewed in favor of syllables of sound, a style McFerrin explains, "I've always felt that singing a song without words makes one song a thousand songs because the people who hear it can bring their own stories to it."
Listen to "Circlesong Two" in Real Audio.
| 4159 CD $11.98 |
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Thinkin' About Your Body Turtle Shoes From Me To You There Ya Go Cara Mia Another Night In Tunisia Opportunity Walkin' I Hear Music Beverly Hills Blues Manan Iguana |
How do you capture spontaneous creation? Blue Note's answer was to present the widest possible variety of performances on one CD in order to capture the sense of someone who is spontaneous in every performance. They succeeded admirably! Three originals, four solo interpretations of other composer's work, singing around the piano of Herbie Hancock, facing off with the soprano sax of Wayne Shorter, and a hysterical "Beverly Hills Blues" (improv with Robin Williams), are the contents but one. That one is "Another Night In Tunisia," sung with The Manhattan Transfer and Jon Hendricks. It's a must for any collection.
Listen to "From Me To You" in Real Audio.
| 4152 CD $10.98 |
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Don't Worry, Be Happy All I Want Drive My Car Simple Pleasures Good Lovin' Come To Me Suzie Q Drive Them Changes Sunshine Of Your Love |
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is the opening tune of a collection of multi tracked songs on which all the voices are Bobby McFerrin's. Five originals including the title track "Simple Pleasures" are interwoven with "Drive My Car" (Lennon/ McCartney), "Good Lovin'," "Susie Q," "Them Changes" (Buddy Miles) and Sunshine Of Your Love. Throughout this recording is the percussive chest thump which Bobby pioneered and really must be considered the origin of innovative vocal percussion which has become so important to contemporary a cappella.
Listen to "Drive My Car" in Real Audio.
| 4153 CD $11.98 |
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Medicine Man Baby Yes, You The Garden Common Threads Sweet In The Morning Discipline He Ran All The Way Angry The Train Soma So De La De Sase The 23rd Psalm |
Medicine Music was written, arranged, and produced by Bobby. It is a very full sound created by overdubbing. The vocal percussion is more drum -like than ever. There is an underlying spiritual theme present, weaving its way from the beginning, "Medicine Man," to the closing reinterpretation of "The 23rd Psalm," dedicated to his mother. In addition, Voicestra, the vocal orchestra of his creation, sings on "Sweet In The Morning" and on "Discipline" which also features Robert McFerrin Sr. An anomaly is the electronically accompanied tune, "Common Threads," which was the theme from the movie of that name. It's beautiful.
| 4156 CD $10.98 |
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Blackbird The Jump El Brujo I Feel Good I'm My Own Walkman Music Box Medley I'm Alone T.J A-Train |
Sometime in 1983 Bobby McFerrin gave his first solo voice concert in Ashland Oregon. In March of the following year he had a tour of Germany stopping in concert and opera halls. This was the springboard which propelled him to world renown as a solo singer of unprecedented virtuosity. The Voice is the CD made of tracks from that tour. The thesaurus will run dry before this reviewer has used enough superlatives to pay homage to the world's only a cappella one man band. The two tunes which gained world wide play from this album are "Blackbird" and "I Feel Good" but the other tunes are as interesting, just too long for radio play.
Listen to "Blackbird" in Real Audio.
| 4151 CD $11.98 |
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Overture to "The Marriage of Figaro" 'Round Midnight Song for Amadeus "Minuet" from String Quintet No.1 in E major, Op.13 No.5, G.275 Circlesong 1 Circlesong 2 Hush Little Baby Flight Of The Bumblebee from The Legend of Tsar Saltan Hoedown! |
"Mouth Music" has a photo of a smiling McFerrin, thinly-wrapped dreadlocks hanging down, in an incongruous white tie and tux; and the first cut is Overture to "The Marriage of Figaro" by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra—conducted by Bobby McFerrin. The 2nd cut is the jazz standard "'Round Midnight," with Bobby's smoky, faux-trumpet solo lead, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums. Next is "Song for Amadeus," Bobby's improvisation on Mozart's Sonata No.2 in F Major," with Chick Corea on piano. The 4th and 5th cuts are "Pavane, Op. 50" and "Minuet" from String Quintet No. 1 in E Major, Op. 13, with Bobby conducting the Chamber Orchestra and providing soaring, joyful vocals, especially on "Minuet." The wonderful, rhythmic a cappella "Circlesong 1" and "Circlesong 2" are followed by a sublime "Hush Little Baby," "Flight of the Bumblebee" and the surprising "Hoedown," with Bobby's freeform vocals accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma. When we have a tendency to think that singers and other musicians aren't really so special, a CD like "Mouth Music" will show us exactly how extraordinary they can be. A beautiful CD from Master Bobby and his talented guests!
| 4612 CD $9.98 |
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Scrapple From The Apple/Honeysuckle Rose |
This performance was filmed for HBO live at the Aquarius Theatre in Hollywood in 1986, the year McFerrin won a Grammy - when he was at his first peak as a one man jazz band. It is absolutely marvelous to watch the energy and humor of this musical genius interact with an audience. On the CD you can hear "Thinkin' About Your Body" but you don't see the interlude where McFerrin suddenly starts improvising on someone's leather jacket. Watching him create "Bwee-Dop"using audience participation is very different from just hearing it (which is why it didn't make the CD), and there's no substitute for watching him egg on the crowd to do the hand signals in "Itsy Bitsy Spider," On "Fascinating Rhythm," his expressions are priceless as he emulates a 1940s jazz band. And his duet with/accompaniment to soprano saxaphonist Wayne Shorter is all the more astounding as you see the two of them lock eyes and minds. Of the 12 songs here, only four are on the CD. We highly recommend this DVD!
| 4603 DVD $19.98 |
Beyond Words traces the personal, musical, and career history of 10-time Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin, from his earliest musical inspirations through his vast yet intimate experiences in popular music, jazz, choral, orchestral, and solo performance. See how this consummate musician has traveled along the continuum of the musical world to find himself championing singing and performing - beyond instruments, beyod tradition and Beyond Words. In personal interviews, Bobby reveals the difficulties in finding his calling in life, his personal philosophy on creating, his classical origins, the secrets of collaborating, and the importance of family. Featuring interviews and performances with Robin Williams, Chick Corea, James Levine, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and more.
| 4607 DVD $15.98 |
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Mysteries Harmonizin‚ Try this at home In the morning Staccato groove Opera style The shirt-scratching song Head in my bed blues Folk rap Walkin‚ on the beat Out we go Ducks The name song Calyso sing More singin' |
Recorded in front of a live intimate audience at Minneapolis' Walker Arts Center in September 1999, "Try This At Home" features the 10-time grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin in a version of his renowned solo vocal concert. Entirely improvised, the performance displays Bobby's astonishing vocal virtuosity and musicianship, and his gift for audience interaction. With a comedian's sense of timing, an unrestrained zany streak, and an infectious love of every genre of music, Bobby's solo show is not a 'performance' but a communal sharing and celebration of music.
| 4608 DVD $15.98 |
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Improv 1 |
Two music legends provide an evening of sheer delight as they blend their astonishing talent, passion and creativity. Chick Corea, one of today's most significant and versatile performers, has never lost his sense of exploration about music. Teamed with virtuoso vocalist Bobby McFerrin, whom Corea describes as a "totally unique artist" and "a genius of spontaneous improvisation," the pair's free-spirited performance soars wit exuberance. Captured in High-Definition Video and CD-quality sound, this rare duet concert at New York City's fame Blue Note Jazz Club was one of the highlights of a Grammy winning reunion celebration chronicling Corea's Amazing four-decade career.
| 7485 DVD $19.95 |
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Concerto in D Major, BWV 972, 1st Movement, Allegro (German Brass) Orchestra Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066, Bouree I/II (Gewandhausorchester Leipsig, Christian Gansch Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850, from "The Well-Tempered Clavier" (Jacques Loussier Trio) Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, Vivace (Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Christian Gansch) Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 (German Brass) Orchestra Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, Air (Bobby McFerrin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) Concerto in D Major, BWV 972, 3rd Movement, Allegro (German Brass) Fudge Fugue in G Minor (Quintessence Saxaphone Quintet) Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, Allegro (Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Christian Gansch) "Bach's Lunch," Variations on Themes by J.S. Bach (Turtle Island String Quartet) Snow What (Turtle Island String Quartet) Deconstructing Johann (King's Singers) Improvisation on "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (Bobby McFerrin/Jacques Loussier Trio) Orchestra suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, Gavotte (Jacques Loussier Trio) "Tocatta & Funk & Choral" (Quintessence Saxophone Quintet) "Seven Steps to Bach" J.S. Bach/Miles Davies (Turtle Island String Quartet) Orchestra Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067, Menuet/Badinerie (Jiri Stivin/Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Christian Gansch) "Jazz Medley," Part A (Jiri Stivin & Collegium Quodlibet) "Jazz Medley," Part B (Jiri Stivin & Collegium Quodlibet) "Improvisation" (Bobby McFerrin) Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1054, Allegro (Jacques Loussier Trio) Orchestra Suite no. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, Gigue; End Credits |
"Swinging Bach" is a 122 minute documentary of a festival that took place in the old town square of Leipzig, Germany. before a large, appreciative audience (who are standing throughout, are introduced to the groups in both English and German by an attractive pair of emcees, and who get seriously rained on later in the show). Featured are 12 groups of different genres, all playing Bach pieces or variations on Bach pieces. The German Brass and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, directed by Christian Gansch, are followed by a jazz interpretation of "Fugue No. 5 in D Minor" by the Jacques Loussier Trio, then another Bach Concerto and Fugue by the Leipzig orchestra and the German Brass. Then comes one of our favorite pieces, Bobby McFerrin with the G. Leipzig, doing a wonderful faux (violin?) lead on "Orchestra Suite No. 3 in D Minor," followed by more German Brass, G. Leipzig and some nice pieces by two quintets, the Quintessence Saxophone Quintet and Turtle Island String Quintet. Another of our favorites follows, The King' Singers with a brilliant a cappella medley of Bach samples, "Deconstructing Johann," with their own very funny added lyrics, which we would like to see written down so we could appreciate them more. Quite a few added features follow, our favorites being "Improvisation on "Wachet auf ruft uns de Stimme," featuring Bobby with the Loussier Trio, and a piece with Bobby and the G. Leipzig where he goes into one of his standard concert improvisational vocal riffs. "Swinging" is an amazing event with some particularly nice work by McFerrin and the King' Singers.
| 4602 DVD $22.98 |
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Knicknack
SATB |
Without a doubt one of the most popular songs of the 20th century, "Don’t Worry, Be Happy" is re-created here in an exact transcription of the Bobby McFerrin’s original hit recording from the album "Simple Pleasures." 3 Soprano parts, 2 Alto parts, and a very hip Bass line back up the soloist or soloists of your choice – a cappella. Great fun to sing and to hear! The music for "KnickKnack" was created by Bobby McFerrin as the soundtrack to the animated short film of the same name created by Pixar Animation Studios. The Short may be seen on DVD as the opening entertainment for the Pixar film, "Finding Nemo." A reverent and truly beautiful rendition of the widely known "23rd Psalm," this piece is frequently used in religious services. It’s pace is slow and contemplative, and the music enhances the beauty of the language. As recorded on Bobby’s "Medicine Music" CD. In "Grace," alto, tenor, and bass voices suggest the chant-like song of a carillon while the sopranos create a rhapsodic melody. This meditative score is enhanced with rhythmic breathing and optional parts for two cellos or cello section. Transcribed from "Hush," Bobby’s duo album with Yo-Yo Ma. Each of Bobby's arrangements comes with extensive performance notes.
| 9018 SHEETMUSIC $13.48 |
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Manna
SATB |
Bobby McFerrin is unique not only due to his choice of notes, but in the way he sings those notes. Each of these beautiful arrangements, all three part of Bobby's sacred music series, comes with extensive performance notes to help your group achieve the sounds and groove that was originally intended.
With text adapted from the Book of Matthew, "Manna" provides a simple refrain with wonderfully textured variations that bring light to the thought “Whoever believes in Me will live forever.” "Manna" includes a through-composed piano part as an additional color in the ensemble. "Come to Me" is rhythmic music full of life, freedom, and joy. An up-tempo piece to make everyone feel good, "come to me" with text adapted from the Book of John, includes parts for vocal percussion, body percussion, and handclaps. As recorded on Bobby’s "Simple Pleasures" CD. "The Garden" exemplifies a new approach in choral writing in which McFerrin’s African-influenced nuances are given full body by co-composer and arranger Roger Treece. The music, originally recorded on the 'Medicine Music' CD, will provide an exciting and gratifying challenge for choral singers and a rich experience for audiences.
| 9019 SHEETMUSIC $14.88 |
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