Bobby McFerrin reflects on going from the hotel bar to prescribing 'medicine music'

Bobby McFerrin was onto something when he titled his second album The Voice. At the time, in the mid-1980s, it was a sobriquet more readily associated with Frank Sinatra — but in its definitive clarity, loaded with implications, no term could have been better suited to his art. McFerrin made history with that release, a solo-vox tour de force, and later eclipsed his own feat with Simple Pleasures, which yielded a No. 1 single and three Grammy awards.

Needless to say, McFerrin has always contained a universe of sound beyond that historical smash hit, "Don't Worry, Be Happy." He's an NEA Jazz Master, a generous collaborator, an endlessly inventive vocal talent, an orchestral conductor. And, as we're reminded in this episode of Jazz Night in America, he's also a great storyteller and an incisive assessor of his own artistic motivations.

Speaking with our host, Christian McBride, McFerrin recalls the precise moment he realized he was a singer; remembers a formative encounter with the Miles Davis band and reflects on his inspiring musical relationships with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the late pianist Chick Corea. We'll hear music from across his chameleonic career, ranging from Mozart to Cream. And we'll consider some of the advice he lives by: that "the stage is a platform for adventure."

Set List:

1. Sunshine of Your Love (Pete Brown, Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton)

2. Discipline (Bobby McFerrin) featuring Robert McFerrin & Voicestra

3. Selim (Hermeto Pascoal) 

4. Song for Amadeus (Improvisation on Mozart's Sonata No. 2 in F Major) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Chick Corea, McFerrin) with Chick Corea

5. Musette (J.S. Bach) with Yo-Yo Ma

6. Circlesong Six (McFerrin) with Voicestra

7. Blues Connotation (Ornette Coleman) with Chick Corea

8. The 23rd Psalm (McFerrin)

9. Honeysuckle Rose (Andy Razaf, Fats Waller) with Christian McBride

10. Drive (McFerrin) 

Credits:

Writer and Producer: Trevor Smith with Alex Ariff; Consulting Editor: Katie Simon; Host: Christian McBride; Project Manager: Suraya Mohamed; Senior Producer: Alex Ariff; Senior Director of NPR Music: Keith Jenkins; Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann and Gabrielle Armand.

Special thanks to Linda Goldstein and Different Fur Studios

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