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Bobby McFerrin no longer performs his most famous song, but don't worry--his new material is sure to win you over. |
BY ZACK SMITH
FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR
Has it really been 20 years since Bobby McFerrin first advised the world, "Don't worry, be happy"?
Indeed, it has been even longer since the irrepressible vocalist first made his mark on the music world with his unique ability to sing melody, harmony, bass lines and beatbox all at the same time.
As he prepares for the U.S. premiere of his new recording, 10-time Grammy Award winner McFerrin will be stopping by the Birchmere in Alexandria to perform his solo show for two nights--Wednesday, March 17, and Thursday, March 18.
A solo performance by Bobby McFerrin almost defies explanation. Pulling musical influences from jazz, pop, rock, classical and world music, he manages to meld many different styles into one fluent form. Music just seems to burst out of him.
Speaking from Philadelphia, McFerrin said in a recent phone interview that he really doesn't have a "plan" for his solo show.
"The only thing that is planned in advance is the first two pieces. The first two pieces are always improvised, 'cause I figure it's best to do the riskiest thing first. The audience can expect to sing with me--you know, I demand it. To me it's not a solo concert as much as it is sort of like audience art. I'm singing to them, they're singing to me--it's like a community sing-out!"
Although both of his parents were singers, it took a while for McFerrin to realize where his path lay. "I was a journeyman keyboard player with the Ice Follies in '71, '72 and '73. I thought I was a pianist for a long, long time, but I always had a nagging suspicion that I wasn't. One day, out of the blue, I discovered I was a singer--and I actually got an audition at a piano bar the next day, and was hired. I discovered I was a singer, and the very next day I got a job as a singer!"
His new CD, to be released April 6 on Decca Records, has been in the making for some time and promises to be an album unlike anything that has been recorded before it. Titled "VOCAbuLarieS," it is a seven-song collection defined by thick harmonies, complex arrangements and extraordinary detail. Composer/arranger Roger Treece based the pieces on motifs and phrases from McFerrin's catalogue of recordings, and enlisted the aid of singers from many different genres to create a "virtual choir" of more than 1,400 voices.
"It took about six or seven years to do, and Roger kept calling me back into the studio. I thought we had done something, or were close to being finished with it, and he'd call me back and say, 'No, I've found some other spots' or 'I've got a new idea--I want this song headed in a different direction, so you got to come back and do some more stuff.' It was a lot of work--and there were about 60 singers on this album, too."
More than a thousand hours were spent in the studio recording, editing and re-editing the new disc--quite a different process compared with "Simple Pleasures," the album that made McFerrin a household name.
"'Simple Pleasures' we did in about a week," McFerrin said. "The song 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' came about because I was in the studio working on another tune and I got stuck--I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I told everybody to take a break, went back to the green room and got out a pad and wrote out the lyrics and said, 'OK, let's do this song instead.' All of that took about an hour. Comparing the two albums is like comparing a dewdrop to the ocean. With 'Simple Pleasures' we were talking about 35 hours compared to a thousand."
If you attend the show at the Birchmere, don't expect to hear his greatest hit. "Oh, I don't sing it ['Don't Worry, Be Happy'] anymore. I haven't done it in concert in many years. I just got tired of singing it. Also, I wanted my audiences to know who I was and not sort of be typecast with that one song. It was funny--when the song came out I didn't do a single thing to promote it. I sat at home and enjoyed my kids, my wife, and enjoyed home cooking. The song worked all by itself."
Zack Smith is a local freelance writer, musician and educator. Reach him
Email: barzac@aol.com.
