Home » Jazz Musicians » Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin is an NEA Jazz Master

Whatever Bobby McFerrin does, he breaks the mold – as a composer, arranger, and bandleader… as a conductor of symphony orchestras… and, of course, as a singer and improviser who expands our ideas of what music can be. He is that rare thing: a great entertainer and a groundbreaking artist, showing us that there are virtually no limits to what can be done with the human voice. For more than four decades, Bobby has broken all the rules – and made up a whole bunch of new ones.

A ten-time GRAMMY winner and a NEA Jazz Master, he has blurred the distinction between pop music and fine art – goofing around barefoot in the world’s august concert halls… exploring uncharted vocal territory… inspiring generations of a cappella singers and the beat box generation. 

With a four-octave range and an astonishing musical palette, Bobby finds inspiration in composed music like Bach or Charles Ives or James Brown… in Charlie Parker and Jaco Pastorius and especially in the innovations of his longtime collaborator Chick Corea… and in pretty much every sound he’s ever heard or imagined… always bringing a multiverse of influences to his musical inventions. But for everything he has accomplished, Bobby always says that, above all, his goal is to bring joy.

Bobby remembers the day he decided to become a singer: July 11, 1977.  He was 27, and he had a dream, a vision. He imagined himself alone on stage – one man and a microphone, improvising with only his voice. He had no idea how he was going to pull this off. So he got himself a gig at a piano bar to experiment as a singing pianist. And step by step, he began to find his way… like with his first solo version of Joan Armatrading’s “Opportunity”.

Two years later, in 1979, Bobby moved to San Francisco and began to experiment… to explore his vision… to invent himself as an artist. He had been leading his own jazz groups, accompanying dancers, studying composition, and touring with the Ice Follies – as a pianist. Bobby started working with his longtime manager and producer, a jazz singer named Linda Goldstein, who created a booking agency for jazz innovators like Joe Henderson, Chet Baker and Bill Evans… and became the manager for individualists like Laurie Anderson and David Byrne. They set out to bring Bobby’s vision to life… particularly among serious musicians. 

Soon, Bobby got the chance to perform with saxophonists Wayne Shorter and Michael Brecker, with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, with pianists Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea – some of the greatest improvisers on the planet. They recognized that McFerrin was a purely creative spirit… an earthy virtuoso, always ready to plunge over the edge and invent something during the free-fall.  In fact this is when Bobby began a lifetime of collaborating with his musical soulmate Chick Corea:

Read more

Tags

37
Radio & Podcasts

Brad Walker, Bobby McFerrin, Nichols@100, Newk & More

Read "Brad Walker, Bobby McFerrin, Nichols@100, Newk & More" reviewed by Marc Cohn


Lots of features this week. Tenorist Brad Walker kicks off the Fall jazz concert season in Baton Rouge on Friday, October 4 @ Chorum Hall and we preview his new session recorded live at Snug Harbor in New Orleans. Another centennial segment celebrates pianist Herbie Nichols; more Sonny Rollins with Miles; and Bobby McFerrin who was appointed a NEA Jazz Master for 2020. Along the way Dave Zinno's latest, grease from Leon Spencer, a message from Betty Carter, swing from ...

4
Live Review

Burlington Discover Jazz Festival 2019

Read "Burlington Discover Jazz Festival 2019" reviewed by Doug Collette


Burlington Discover Jazz Festival Burlington, Vermont May 31-June 9, 2019 Prominent among the many of virtues the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival offers its hometown each year is a reminder of the energetic activity that permeates the Queen City of Vermont (and not just at this most wonderful time of the year). Witness the first night of 2019's ten-day run: in addition to one of the most friendly and accessible opening acts in recent years--Bobby McFerrin on ...

5
Album Review

Bobby McFerrin: spirityouall

Read "spirityouall" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


A 10-time Grammy winner, Bobby McFerrin's undeniable gifted voice has not only inspired audiences with its unique qualities but also imbued his spiritual roots as found in songs throughout his discography such as the colorful Garden of Eden expression, “The Garden" from 2010's VOCAbuLarieS (EmArcy) or the unique scriptural vocal rendition of “The 23rd Psalm" from his 1990 release Medicine Music (EMI). Inspired by the music of his upbringing and his father Robert McFerrin Sr.--an operatic baritone ...

6
Album Review

Bobby McFerrin: spirityouall

Read "spirityouall" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau and Jon Hendricks are the most innovative jazz voices of the past 50 years. Our current subject, McFerrin, took the technical capabilities of the human voice, remolding them into the fantastic and delightful forms we recognise as his genius today. spirityouall is McFerrin's celebration of both his father, Robert McFerrin, Sr., the first African-American to sign a contract with the Metropolitan Opera Company and the American musical vernacular called the Spiritual. McFerrin's father ...

490
Album Review

Bobby McFerrin: VOCAbuLarieS

Read "VOCAbuLarieS" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


For nearly thirty years, Bobby McFerrin's illustrious career has proven that there is no instrument like the human voice. With an ability to cover any vocal range, his spontaneous inventions have spanned inventive a cappella singing, wonderful mimicries and global dialects, through memorable performances and recordings with the likes of the Vienna Philharmonic, Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock, or demonstrating the power of the pentatonic scale at the 2009 World Science Festival. A true virtuoso, McFerrin is far ...

1,303
Profile

Bobby McFerrin: Music's Renaissance Man Does It All

Read "Bobby McFerrin:  Music's Renaissance Man Does It All" reviewed by Larry Taylor


Bobby McFerrin--master of all music, a man whose career embraces, jazz, pop and classical has one busy schedule coming up in 2008. This world famous vocal innovator and improviser, who added classical to his repertoire in the nineties, began the year in Southern California with concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, conducting Prokofiev's “Symphony No. 1" and Mendelssohn's “Symphony No. 4, 'Italian,'" as well as taking part vocally on Vivaldi's “Concerto For Two ...

411
Live Review

Bobby McFerrin in London, May 20-21

Read "Bobby McFerrin in London, May 20-21" reviewed by John Eyles


Bobby McFerrin with LSO St. Luke's Community Choir Barbican Centre Residency London, England May 20-21, 2007 April in London was the hottest and driest on record. But May was something else: cool, grey and rainy. It felt like the end of a summer that wasn't. So by the time Bobby McFerrin played the Barbican, we needed some sunshine to lift us. And we weren't disappointed. McFerrin was the latest in a ...

Read more articles

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby McFerrin's birthday today!

Whatever Bobby McFerrin does, he breaks the mold – as a composer, arranger, and bandleader… as a conductor of symphony orchestras… and, of course, as a singer and improviser who expands our ideas of what music can be. He is that rare thing: a great entertainer and a groundbreaking artist, showing us that there are virtually no limits to what can be done with the human voice. For more than four ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby McFerrin's birthday today!

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world's best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of “Don't Worry Be Happy", one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies, and his collaborations including those with ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby McFerrin's birthday today!

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world's best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of “Don't Worry Be Happy", one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies, and his collaborations including those with ...

3

Event

Virtual Concert Celebrates the 2020 NEA Jazz Masters on August 20, 2020

Virtual Concert Celebrates the 2020 NEA Jazz Masters on August 20, 2020

Source: All About Jazz

The National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, will host a special online-only concert in honor of the 2020 NEA Jazz Masters—Dorthaan Kirk (A.B. Spellman Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy), Bobby McFerrin, Roscoe Mitchell, and Reggie Workman—on Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT. 2017 NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater will emcee this premier event, which will include performances by acclaimed jazz musicians—including honorees McFerrin, Mitchell, and Workman—recorded from locations around the country. ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby McFerrin's birthday today!

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world's best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of “Don't Worry Be Happy", one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies, and his collaborations including those with ...

1

Event

2020 NEA Jazz Masters to be Honored at Events April 1-3 at SFJAZZ in San Francisco

2020 NEA Jazz Masters to be Honored at Events April 1-3 at SFJAZZ in San Francisco

Source: All About Jazz

Join the National Endowment for the Arts in celebrating the 2020 NEA Jazz Masters—Dorthaan Kirk, Bobby McFerrin, Roscoe Mitchell, and Reggie Workman—at free, open to the public events April 1–3, 2020, at the SFJAZZ Center in jny: San Francisco, held in collaboration with SFJAZZ. In addition to hearing from the masters themselves at a listening party and a master class, a one-night-only concert on Thursday, April 2, will feature performances that exemplify the honorees’ impact on jazz. Hosted by 2017 ...

2

Award / Grant

National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2020 NEA Jazz Masters

National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2020 NEA Jazz Masters

Source: All About Jazz

Today the National Endowment for the Arts announced the four newest recipients of the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Innovative jazz musicians Bobby McFerrin, Roscoe Mitchell, and Reggie Workman, as well as Dorthaan Kirk—who is receiving the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy—are the 2020 recipients of NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships. They will be celebrated at a tribute concert on April 2, 2020, at the SFJAZZ Center in jny: San Francisco, California, in collaboration with SFJAZZ. Acting ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby McFerrin's birthday today!

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world\'s best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of “Don\'t Worry Be Happy", one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies... Read more.

Place our Musician of ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby McFerrin's birthday today!

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world\'s best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of “Don\'t Worry Be Happy", one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies... Read more.

Place our Musician of ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bobby McFerrin

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bobby McFerrin's birthday today!

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A ten-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world\'s best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of “Don\'t Worry Be Happy", one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century, and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies... Read more.

Place our Musician of ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Spirityouall

Sony Music
2013

buy

Vocabularies

EmArcy
2010

buy

Rendezvous in New York

Image Entertainment
2009

buy

The Collection

Sony Music
2007

buy

Beyond Words

Blue Note Records
2002

buy

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.