The Bobby McFerrin Interview

My guest today relentlessly pursues individual sound. He knows the spirit inside him sings from an island shore in the middle of the world, a cotton field in New Madrid Missouri or at Smalls Paradise in Harlem where Jimmy Smith would groove that organ like a wailer.

My guest today is a conductor of major symphony orchestras in the US and Canada so he has roots in the classical idiom but when performing he likes to swing the band like Tony Williams except unlike polyrhythms my guest uses his voice polyphonic ally performing the main melody and accompanying parts of the song. He blends this with the soul of Bill Withers, Save Me Jesus in Grandmas hands with Gil Scott Heron and Leon Thomas.

Every time my guest performs he carries with him the burning spear of electricity. Being able to project with confidence and clairvoyance be it the  Pink Panther or  The PBS series This is Your Brain on Music or coming over the top of a Gil Goldstein accordion solo.

My guests individuality has led to 10 Grammy awards, invitations to play all over the world spreading his message of spirituality not religiosity and the conjoining of faith with the incandescent vocal as libs, beats, cuica's,  and spoken word that make music the magic that it is.

Bobby McFerrin, welcome to the JFS