A Chance Encounter With Bobby McFerrin

The legendary vocalist led the group Motion as part of their Circlesongs sessions in Berkeley, California

Bobby McFerrin at a Circlesongs concert and workshop in 2019. Photo: David Dzubinski/Circlesongs.com

Serendipity is the only way to describe an incredible experience – getting to hear Bobby McFerrin in performance in Berkeley, California on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024.

Bobby McFerrin is a supreme vocalist, but ironically very hard to describe. He uses his voice to sing or as an instrument and has a ridiculously large range of sounds he can produce from it. There is nobody in memory who has been as versatile with his/her voice as Bobby McFerrin. As if this was not enough, Bobby McFerrin is also a classical music conductor and has often worked in this capacity with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others. He is a supremely talented all-round musician.

To hear him in concert, thus is a mystery, one not sure of what part of the great man’s vocal aspect will be on show.

We were fortunate to hear him perform with his vocal group MOTION in a session of Circlesongs. This vocal genre is a creation of McFerrin’s, a style where a number of voices create songs as a group, one taking forward the input from another to develop a song, almost like a baton being handed over in a relay race right up to the finish line.

Bobby McFerrin came up with this concept because he wanted more people to sing; in fact, he would be happiest if the whole world got involved in singing!

At the very unlikely time of 12 noon on a Monday (Oct. 7), Bobby McFerrin and MOTION were to perform for a participating audience at a coffee shop/bar in Berkeley. We just happened to be in the area (on vacation) and were blessed to be able to see and hear the versatility of McFerrin. The members of the group MOTION – David Worm, Bryan Dyer, Tammi Brown and Destani Wolf – are all well-known singers locally.

Tammi Brown performed in Mumbai a few years ago when she came with the show Bazzar by Cirque du Soleil as their lead singer. They had performed in Mumbai at the BKC for a few weeks.

The performance of McFerrin and MOTION was a totally improvised session of only vocals. McFerrin led the way with a melodic line which was then taken on and expanded by the next vocalist on stage and so on, until it developed into some sort of a composition. Band members even chipped in to the music with vocalized sounds of the bass and drums.

(Second from right) Bobby McFerrin with members of the vocal group MOTION (second from left to right) Bryan Dyer, David Worm and Destani Wolf and the writer.

It was akin to a story developing from an initial sentence spoken by an orator and moving the concept into a narrative of sorts. The band later confirmed that none of the performances were rehearsed or even planned.

Members of the audience were invited to sing along with the band; the process was that the guest would lead off and the professionals on stage would embellish the music and provide substance to the song. Several members came up and were rewarded with a very nice song of their initiation. This exercise must boost their singing confidence.

Bobby McFerrin and MOTION perform regularly at different venues.

The background of the great McFerrin is quite amazing. Most would remember his single “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” from the 1980s. It won him one of his 10 Grammy awards. There is a strange story associated with this McFerrin song.

In 1986 during the U.S. Presidential elections, Republican candidate George H.W. Bush used the song “Don’t Worry, be Happy” in his official campaign but without either the permission or endorsement of its owner. Bobby McFerrin was understandably very upset by this pilfering. “I won’t vote for you,” he said to Bush. He has rarely, if ever sung his big hit again.

We have included here one link to a great performance by Bobby McFerrin. It is a vocalese version of “Freddie Freeloader.” The original, instrumental piece is from Miles Davis’ famous album Kind of Blue. In this vocal version, McFerrin sings the trumpet solo of Davis, followed by Al Jarreau and Jon Hendricks vocalizing the saxophone solos of Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane.