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Kalamu ya Salaam's information blog

The profound sound of the human voice. The range, versatility, the ability to heal, to soothe, and satisfy. Bobby McFerrin has it all, gives his all. He makes us glad to be alive, and, to paraphrase the Bible, he can make even the rocks cry out just by the joyousness of his song.

The song “Discipline” features a solo cameo by Bobby’s father, Robert McFerrin, Sr. Bobby also convened an orchestra of voices to contribute to his music making live. The choral sound was in direct contradistinction from the over-dubbing and multitracking he did in the studio.

But as great as his voice is, the real beauty of brother Bobby’s ability is the way he can employ the fertile fountain of his imagination.  His ability to come up with many, many, beautiful voicing leads him to conceive and produce a sonic geyser of unmatchable healing sounds–healing in that Bobby’s vocally produced music both fires us and simultaneously cools us.

We not only feel there is nothing he, and by extension, we can not do. We marvel that a musician can do so much without the aid of any instrument other than the human voice. One flourish on his sonic signature may be a little ditty he wrote called “Don’t worry. Be happy.”

McFerrin’s NPR interview ably explains his talent and just makes us want to hear him again and again, especially if we have been treated by imbibing the tonic of a concert with the man who makes medicine music.