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BOBBY McFERRIN<\/b><\/h1>\nBOBBY McFERRIN<\/b><\/h1>\nThe vocal acrobat pours his joy into songs\u00a0 of faith and devotion\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cMaking music is the most joyful experience I know,\u201d says vocalist and conductor Bobby McFerrin, best known for his 1988 Grammy-winning smash, \u201cDon\u2019t Worry, Be Happy.\u201d His new album, spirityouall<\/i>, is a collection of devotional songs and original compositions. \u201cWithout faith I couldn\u2019t walk, much less sing,\u201d says McFerrin. \u201cMy career is very public, but if my private world isn\u2019t right, I couldn\u2019t do it. Faith and family are cornerstones for me. I start every day with prayer, meditation and reading the Bible. I try to get right with myself and my God and the people I care about. I really do think all music is prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
McFerrin learned this powerful message from his father,\u00a0Robert McFerrin, who was the first African-American to sing with the Metropolitan Opera Company. \u201cMy father was incredibly disciplined and rigorous,\u201d he says. \u201cHe felt he was the custodian of a gift\u2014a gift that God had given him a responsibility to develop. I could never sing the way he did, but I think a lot about what my job as an artist is\u2014to bring joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The singer also views music as a therapeutic tool, and looks forward to engaging audiences with a performance that considers the frailty of life. \u201cEverybody hopes to be released from something,\u201d says McFerrin, 63. \u201cEverybody needs to connect to the spirit, to the strength within themselves, to the faith to persevere or transform, whatever it takes. I want people to feel hooked up to the spirit and to their fellow human beings here on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given his fluid improvisational skills, it\u2019s no wonder McFerrin basks in the glow of spontaneous invention. \u201cI get inspired when I\u2019m surprised,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s why years ago my manager started arranging for guests to appear out of nowhere on tour, like the time Robin Williams jumped onstage and we improvised \u2018Beverly Hills Blues.\u2019\u201d The vocal chameleon has developed a tradition that celebrates musical and cultural diversity. \u201cThese days we do a program called \u2018Bobby Meets\u2019 where I get to improvise with local musicians in different countries. My ears get happy when I hear something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, McFerrin continues to streamline the various musical strands of his past when starting a new project. \u201cIt\u2019s natural for me to incorporate different influences,\u201d he says. \u201cOver the course of my career, it\u2019s become clear that\u2019s part of what I\u2019m about musically, bringing together everything I hear and love. This album reflects that, too. We discussed it in the planning stages, it happened naturally in the recording process, and it\u2019s still evolving as we perform on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BOBBY McFERRIN The vocal acrobat pours his joy into songs\u00a0 of faith and devotion\u00a0 \u201cMaking music is the most joyful experience I know,\u201d says vocalist and conductor Bobby McFerrin, best known for his 1988 Grammy-winning smash, \u201cDon\u2019t Worry, Be Happy.\u201d His new album, spirityouall, is a collection of devotional songs and original compositions. \u201cWithout faith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[6930,6928,6875,6929,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10335"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10338,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10335\/revisions\/10338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}