Review: What a great way to introduce the music of Bobby McFerrin to younger choirs. Winning the Grammy in 1989 this hit tune will bring a smile to everyone's face. Discovery Level 2. Available separately: 2-Part VoiceTrax CD. Duration: ca. 3:30.

Songlist: Don't Worry Be Happy

Review: Since a cappella pioneer Bobby McFerrin singlehandedly gave the vocal arts a hand up to a whole new level of possibilities in the 1980s with his iconic hit "Don't Worry, Be Happy," we have looked at him and listened to him with awe and gratitude. Experiencing him perform live several times only increased these feelings exponentially, and we had the feeling that everyone in the audience was on exactly the same page. Well, in the early 90s Bobby seems to have picked up on that, and has invited the audience to participate, and included interaction with guest musicians, all improvised. This has cemented his reputation as a marvelous entertainer, and has created a new kind of concert-not a performance, but a "communal sharing and celebration of music." This is exactly what the new DVD "Live in Montreal" is all about. It's beautifully filmed at the "Festival International de Jazz de Montreal," In these 21 video cuts, part of the audience is right up on stage with Bobby, and he improvises and creates musical events with them and members of the main audience. He improvises with a trapeze artist above him, and with a singing viola player. I'll just list some of the cut titles to give you a taste of what happens in this very special DVD: 12. "Improvisation with Richard Bona," 13. "Improvisation, Country Stuff," 13. "Baby," 14. "Improvisation with Tamango "Well You Needn't," 15. "Bwee Do," 16. "Le Grand Choeur de Montreal, It's a Wonderful World," 17. "Circlesong One," 18. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and 19. "The Wizard of Oz Medley." Bobby is a living a cappella legend, and this live show is creative, funny, touching and simply brilliant. Don't miss this one!

Songlist: Improvisation Style "Little Red Book", Improvisation with the People on Stage, Improvisation with Evelyne Lamontagne on the Trapeze (Extracts from the Opera Carmen), Improvisation with the Audience, Improvisation with Jorane "Riopel", Improvisation "Gonna Move", 'The Jump", "Drive", "Ave Maria', Richard Bona "Dina Lam", Improvisation with Richard Bona, Improvisation "Country Stuff", Baby, Improvisation with Tamango "Well You Needn't", "Bwee Doo", Le Grand Choeur De Montreal "It's A Wonderful World", "Circlesong One", "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", "The Wizard of Oz Medley", Melody from "Sun Concert 5", Sings Walking Off Stage

Review: Ten-time Grammy Award winner/vocal innovator Bobby McFerrin surprises us yet again with VOCAbuLarieS, his first new release in eight years. Like his #1 worldwide hit song Don't Worry Be Happy and his multi-platinum duo album Hush with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, VOCAbuLarieS is based on Bobby's experiments with multi-track recording and his ceaseless exploration of the potential of the human voice. VOCAbuLarieS is Bobby McFerrin music for the 21st century. A collaboration with the composer/arranger/producer Roger Treece, VOCAbuLarieS features over fifty of the world's finest singers, recorded one at a time and in small groups to create a virtual choir made up of over 1,400 vocal tracks. Constructed as meticulously as a Mozart symphony or a Steely Dan album, intricately synthesized from countless stylistic elements, VOCAbuLarieS may be unlike any album anyone has ever recorded. Yet the music is always accessible, joyous, and inviting. VOCAbuLarieS celebrates Bobby's love of all musical genres, from classical to world music, R&B to gospel and beyond, building upon McFerrin's past explorations and journeying into bold new territory. If the song Don't Worry Be Happy is all you know about Bobby McFerrin, sit back and prepare to be amazed.

Songlist: Baby, Say Ladeo, Wailers, Messages, The Garden, He Ran To The Train, Brief Eternity

Review: Recorded in front of a live intimate audience at Minneapolis' Walker Arts Center in September 1999, "Try This At Home" features the 10-time grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin in a version of his renowned solo vocal concert. Entirely improvised, the performance displays Bobby's astonishing vocal virtuosity and musicianship, and his gift for audience interaction. With a comedian's sense of timing, an unrestrained zany streak, and an infectious love of every genre of music, Bobby's solo show is not a 'performance' but a communal sharing and celebration of music.

Songlist: Mysteries, Harmonizin, Try this at home, In the morning, Staccato groove, Opera style, The shirt-scratching song, Head in my bed blues, Folk rap, Walkin' on the beat, Out we go, Ducks, The name song, Calyso sing, More singin

Review: Bobby, the a cappella legend, may have crossed the line into the land of accompaniment on "Beyond Words," but let us just say that there is accompaniment, and then there is Chick Corea on piano, with musicians of similar stature on bass, percussion, drums and guitar, and Bobby himself playing the Roland XP-80 synthesizer. Let us also say that Bobby McFerrin has heavily influenced (many would say personally created) the resurgence in a cappella music in the last two decades, and that that was no mistake or lucky break. He is an artist who pushes the vocal jazz envelope, and he's pushing it here. 16 songs that take Bobby's art - what he does better than anyone else - that is, use his voice as an incredibly multi-faceted instrument, to create sounds and moods that no one has ever created before. "Invocation," "Kalimba Suite," "A Silken Road" - each is a little masterpiece of vocal and instrumental improvisation, as beautiful and earth pastel-colored as the stunning liner notes. Listen and be in awe!

Songlist: Invocation, Kalimba Suite, A Silken Road, Fertile Field, Dervishes, Ziggurat, Sisters, Circlings, Chanson, Windows, Marlowe, Mass, Pat & Joe, Taylor Made, A Piece, A Chord, Monks / The Sheperd

Review: Beyond Words traces the personal, musical, and career history of 10-time Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin, from his earliest musical inspirations through his vast yet intimate experiences in popular music, jazz, choral, orchestral, and solo performance. See how this consummate musician has traveled along the continuum of the musical world to find himself championing singing and performing - beyond instruments, beyod tradition and Beyond Words. In personal interviews, Bobby reveals the difficulties in finding his calling in life, his personal philosophy on creating, his classical origins, the secrets of collaborating, and the importance of family. Featuring interviews and performances with Robin Williams, Chick Corea, James Levine, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and more.

Songlist:

Review: "Don't Worry, Be Happy" is the opening tune of a collection of multi tracked songs on which all the voices are Bobby McFerrin's. Five originals including the title track "Simple Pleasures" are interwoven with "Drive My Car" (Lennon/ McCartney), "Good Lovin'," "Susie Q," "Them Changes" (Buddy Miles) and Sunshine Of Your Love. Throughout this recording is the percussive chest thump which Bobby pioneered and really must be considered the origin of innovative vocal percussion which has become so important to contemporary a cappella.

Songlist: Don't Worry, Be Happy, All I Want, Drive My Car, Simple Pleasures, Good Lovin', Come To Me, Suzie Q, Drive, Them Changes, Sunshine Of Your Love

Review: How do you capture spontaneous creation? Blue Note's answer was to present the widest possible variety of performances on one CD in order to capture the sense of someone who is spontaneous in every performance. They succeeded admirably! Three originals, four solo interpretations of other composer's work, singing around the piano of Herbie Hancock, facing off with the soprano sax of Wayne Shorter, and a hysterical "Beverly Hills Blues" (improv with Robin Williams), are the contents but one. That one is "Another Night In Tunisia," sung with The Manhattan Transfer and Jon Hendricks. It's a must for any collection...

Songlist: Thinkin' About Your Body, Turtle Shoes, From Me To You, There Ya Go, Cara Mia, Another Night In Tunisia, Opportunity, Walkin', I Hear Music, Beverly Hills Blues, Manan Iguana

Review: This video was filmed for HBO live at the Aquarius Theatre in Hollywood in 1986, the year McFerrin won a Grammy - when he was at his first peak as a one man jazz band. It is absolutely marvelous to watch the energy and humor of this musical genius interact with an audience. On the CD you can hear "Thinkin' About Your Body" but you don't see the interlude where McFerrin suddenly starts improvising on someone's leather jacket. Watching him create "Bwee-Dop"using audience participation is very different from just hearing it (which is why it didn't make the CD), and there's no substitute for watching him egg on the crowd to do the hand signals in "Itsy Bitsy Spider," On "Fascinating Rhythm," his expressions are priceless as he emulates a 1940s jazz band. And his duet with/accompaniment to soprano saxaphonist Wayne Shorter is all the more astounding as you see the two of them lock eyes and minds. Of the 12 songs here, only four are on the CD. We highly recommend this DVD! 

Songlist: Scrapple From The Apple/honeysuckle Rose, Bwee-Dop, Cara Mia, Fascinatin' Rhythm, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Thinkin About Your Boy, Drive, Opportunity, I Got the Feelin', Walkin, Blackbird, Manana Iguana, Don't Worry, Be Happy (music video), Good lovin (music video)

Review: "Swinging Bach" is a 122 minute documentary of a festival that took place in the old town square of Leipzig, Germany. before a large, appreciative audience (who are standing throughout, are introduced to the groups in both English and German by an attractive pair of emcees, and who get seriously rained on later in the show). Featured are 12 groups of different genres, mostly instrumental, all playing Bach pieces or variations on Bach pieces. The German Brass and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, directed by Christian Gansch, are followed by a jazz interpretation of "Fugue No. 5 in D Minor" by the Jacques Loussier Trio, then another Bach Concerto and Fugue by the Leipzig orchestra and the German Brass. Then comes one of our favorite pieces, Bobby McFerrin with the G. Leipzig, doing a wonderful faux (violin?) lead on "Orchestra Suite No. 3 in D Minor," followed by more German Brass, G. Leipzig and some nice pieces by two quintets, the Quintessence Saxophone Quintet and Turtle Island String Quintet. Another of our favorites follows, The King' Singers. with a brilliant a cappella medley of Bach samples, "Deconstructing Johann," with their own very funny added lyrics, which we would like to see written down so we could appreciate them more. Quite a few added features follow, our favorites being "Improvisation on "Wachet auf ruft uns de Stimme," featuring Bobby with the Loussier Trio, and a piece with Bobby and the G. Leipzig where he goes into one of his standard concert improvisational vocal riffs. "Swinging" is an amazing event with some particularly nice work by McFerrin and the King' Singers.

Songlist: Concerto in D Major, BWV 972, 1st Movement, Allegro (German Brass), Orchestra Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066, Bouree I/II (GewandhausorchesterLeipsig, Christian GanschFugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850, from "The Well-Tempered Clavier" (JacquesLoussier Trio), Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, Vivace (GewandhausorchesterLeipzig, Christian Gansch), Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 (German Brass), Orchestra Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, Air (Bobby Mferrin,Gewandhausorchester Leipzig), Concerto in D Major, BWV 972, 3rd Movement, Allegro (German Brass), Fudge Fugue in G Minor (Quintessence Saxaphone Quintet), Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, Allegro (GewandhausorchesterLeipzig, Christian Gansch), "Bach's Lunch," Variations on Themes by J.S. Bach (Turtle Island StringQuartet), Snow What (Turtle Island String Quartet), Deconstructing Johann (King's Singers), Improvisation on "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (Bobby McFerrin/JacquesLoussier Trio), Orchestra suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, Gavotte (Jacques Loussier Trio), "Tocatta & Funk & Choral" (Quintessence Saxophone Quintet), "Seven Steps to Bach" J.S. Bach/Miles Davies (Turtle Island String Quartet), Orchestra Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067, Menuet/Badinerie (Jiri Stivin/Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Christian Gansch), "Jazz Medley," Part A (Jiri Stivin & Collegium Quodlibet), "jazz Medley," Part B (Jiri Stivin & Collegium Quodlibet), "Improvisation" (Bobby McFerrin), Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1054, Allegro (Jacques Loussier Trio), Orchestra Suite no. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068, Gigue; End Credits

Review: Without a doubt one of the most popular songs of the 20th century, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" is re-created here in an exact transcription of the Bobby McFerrin's original hit recording from the album "Simple Pleasures." 3 Soprano parts, 2 Alto parts, and a very hip Bass line back up the soloist or soloists of your choice - a cappella. Great fun to sing and to hear! A reverent and truly beautiful rendition of the widely known "23rd Psalm," this piece is frequently used in religious services. It's pace is slow and contemplative, and the music enhances the beauty of the language. As recorded on Bobby's "Medicine Music" CD. In "Grace," alto, tenor, and bass voices suggest the chant-like song of a carillon while the sopranos create a rhapsodic melody. This meditative score is enhanced with rhythmic breathing and optional parts for two cellos or cello section. Transcribed from "Hush," Bobby's duo album with Yo-Yo Ma. Each of Bobby's arrangements comes with extensive performance notes. With text adapted from the Book of Matthew, "Manna" provides a simple refrain with wonderfully textured variations that bring light to the thought "Whoever believes in Me will live forever." "Manna" includes a through-composed piano part as an additional color in the ensemble. "Come to Me" is rhythmic music full of life, freedom, and joy. An up-tempo piece to make everyone feel good, "come to me" with text adapted from the Book of John, includes parts for vocal percussion, body percussion, and handclaps. As recorded on Bobby's "Simple Pleasures" CD.

Songlist: knickknack, Don't Worry Be Happy, Grace, 23rd Psalm, Manna, Come to Me