Bobby McFerrin comes to The Bushnell on April 30
Contact: Amanda Savio (860) 987-6068; e-mail: amanda_savio@bushnell.org
April 2, 2003; Hartford, CT - Grammy Award-winning Bobby McFerrin will perform at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts' Belding Theater on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. as part of Fleet Showcase. Tickets are $22.00-$48.00 and are available at The Bushnell Box Office, located at 166 Capitol Avenue in Hartford or by calling (860) 987-5900. Tickets are also available online at www.bushnell.org. Groups of 10 or more may contact (860) 987-5959.
Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world. A 10-time Grammy Award winner, he is one of the world's best-known vocal innovators and improvisers, a world-renowned classical conductor, the creator of one of the most popular songs of the late 20th century and a passionate spokesman for music education. His recordings have sold over 20 million copies, and his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, the Vienna Philharmonic and Herbie Hancock have established him as an ambassador of both the classical and jazz worlds. Yet McFerrin's reach extends well beyond musical circles: he's worked with actor Jack Nicholson, comedians Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, the Muppets and audiences around the world.
With a four-octave range and a vast array of vocal techniques, McFerrin is no mere singer; he is music's last true Renaissance man, a vocal explorer who has combined jazz, folk and a multitude of world music influences - choral, a cappella, and classical music - with his own ingredients. As a conductor, he is able to hear orchestrally, and with this gift has expanded his singing to include more imaginative territory then most; he might extend his vocal repertoire to sing trumpet-inspired parts in the jazz standard "Round Midnight" or to interpret the flute and cello parts in works by Fauré and Vivaldi, or to simply create entirely new sounds.
Born to opera singer parents in New York in 1950, where his father, Robert McFerrin Sr., was the first African-American male soloist at the Metropolitan Opera, his family moved to Hollywood in 1958 when McFerrin Sr. was hired to be the singing voice for Sidney Poitier in the movie Porgy and Bess. McFerrin's first love was the clarinet, but he switched to the piano when the onslaught of braces forced the aspiring reedman to abandon his first beloved instrument.
In 1977, McFerrin decided to come out from behind the piano to test his skill as a vocalist, and in 1978, he started singing with the group Astral Project in New Orleans and then toured with legendary jazz vocal pioneer Jon Hendricks. He also met jazz vocalist turned music entrepreneur Linda Goldstein, who has been his manager and often producer since 1979. Inspired by the completely improvised solo concerts of pianist Keith Jarrett, McFerrin and Goldstein conspired to develop his innovative career as a solo vocalist. This was a considerable challenge since it went against conventional career-building wisdom in the music world, built on prepackaged expectations. Bill Cosby arranged for his 1980 performance at the Playboy Jazz Festival, and a year later McFerrin made a triumphant appearance at the Kool Jazz Festival in New York. Shortly after that, McFerrin released his first album while working toward his goal of wholly improvised solo concerts.
Throughout the 1980s, McFerrin continued to develop his amazing solo improvisations and audience interactions. With a comedian's sense of timing, an unrestrained zany streak, and an infectious love of every genre of music, McFerrin created a new kind of concert - not a "performance" but a communal sharing and celebration of music.
By 1988, he had taken his unaccompanied improvisations from the Hollywood Bowl to Carnegie Hall and to the premiere concert halls of Europe and Asia, thus solidifying his reputation as a musical phenomenon. He then released the album Simple Pleasures, which was his homage to the music of the 1960s. A joyous ditty created on the spot in the recording studio became the phenomenal hit "Don't Worry, Be Happy." Simple Pleasures was nominated for a 1988 Grammy for album of the year, while "Don't Worry, Be Happy" won both the Record of the Year and the coveted Song of the Year awards. It might just as well have been named Song of the Decade, as "Don't Worry, Be Happy" hit the #1 spot on pop charts in almost every country in the world.
In recent years, he has combined his love of improvisation with his conducting skills, extending his vocal journeys to larger groups of singers - whether trained or not. McFerrin's solo concerts have always included audience participation; McFerrin sees them not as "singalongs" but as a genuine collaborative process of making music in the moment. He's also developed that idea in more sophisticated settings with his longtime vocal ensemble Voicestra in the albums Medicine Music and Circlesongs, and in a forthcoming project of choral works in collaboration with composer Roger Treece.
About The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts - The Bushnell is Connecticut's premier performing arts center, hosting more than 450 events yearly, including major Broadway tours, symphony orchestras, family presentations, local arts and community events. In November 2001, The Bushnell completed a $45 million expansion project that added a second, 908-seat theater to the existing historic structure. The new, state-of-the-art performance hall allows for expanded arts, entertainment and community offerings. The Bushnell's nationally-recognized arts-in-education program, PARTNERS (Partners in Arts and Education Revitalizing Schools), is a cross-community educational effort serving 40 schools in 17 districts throughout the Greater Hartford area. The Bushnell opened in January 1930 and is a non-profit organization.