Bobby McFerrin
Encyclopedia
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy
". He is a ten-time Grammy Award
winner.
, New York City, the son of operatic baritone
Robert McFerrin
and singer Sara Copper. Robert Sr. was the first African American to be a regular with New York's Metropolitan Opera
. Sara is a former soloist with regional opera companies and in Broadway shows, and is a professor emeritus of music at Fullerton College
in Fullerton, California
.
Bobby McFerrin was married to Debbie Green in 1975. They have three children.
McFerrin's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy
" was a No. 1 U.S. pop hit in 1988 and won Song of the Year
and Record of the Year
honors. McFerrin has also worked in collaboration with instrumental performers, including pianists Chick Corea
, Herbie Hancock
, and Joe Zawinul
, drummer Tony Williams, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma
.
registers to create polyphonic effects, performing both the main melody
and the accompanying parts of songs. He makes use of percussive effects created both with his mouth and by tapping on his chest. McFerrin is also capable of multiphonic
singing, as observed in his song "Drive" from the 2005 DVD Live in Montreal.
A notable document of McFerrin's approach to singing is his 1984 album The Voice
, the first solo vocal jazz album recorded with no accompaniment or overdubbing.
In 1986, McFerrin was the voice of Santa Bear in "Santa Bear's First Christmas," and in 1987 he was the voice of Santa Bear/Bully Bear in the sequel "Santa Bear's High Flying Adventure." That same year, he performed the theme song for the opening credits of Season 4 of The Cosby Show
, as well as the music for a Cadbury
chocolate commercial.
In 1988, McFerrin recorded the hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy
", which brought him widespread recognition across the world. However, the song's success "ended McFerrin's musical life as he had known it," and he began to pursue other musical possibilities – on stage and in recording studios. The song was used in George H. W. Bush
's 1988 U.S. presidential election as Bush's 1988 official presidential campaign song, without Bobby McFerrin's permission or endorsement. In reaction, Bobby McFerrin publicly protested that particular use of his song, including stating that he was going to vote against Bush, and completely dropped the song from his own performance repertoire, to make the point even clearer.
In 1989, he composed and performed the music for the Pixar
short film Knick Knack
. The rough cut to which McFerrin recorded his vocals had the words "blah blah blah" in place of the end credits (meant to indicate that he should improvise). McFerrin spontaneously decided to sing "blah blah blah" as lyrics, and the final version of the short film includes these lyrics during the end credits. Also in 1989, he formed a ten-person "Voicestra" which he featured on both his 1990 album Medicine Music and in the score to the 1989 Oscar-winning documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
. The song "Common Threads" has frequently reappeared in some public service advertisements for AIDS. McFerrin also performed with the Vocal Summit.
As early as 1992, widespread rumors circulated that falsely claimed McFerrin committed suicide. The rumors intentionally made fun of the distinctly positive nature of his popular song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by claiming McFerrin ironically took his own life.
In 1993 McFerrin sang Henry Mancini
's "Pink Panther" theme for the movie Son of the Pink Panther
.
In addition to his vocal performing career, in 1994 Mr. McFerrin was appointed as creative chair of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
. He makes regular tours as a guest conductor for symphony orchestras throughout the United States and Canada, including the San Francisco Symphony
(on his 40th birthday), the New York Philharmonic
, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
, the Cleveland Orchestra
, the Philadelphia Orchestra
, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
, the London Philharmonic
, the Vienna Philharmonic and many others. In McFerrin's concert appearances, he combines serious conducting of classical pieces with his own unique vocal improvisations, often with participation from the audience and the orchestra. For example, the concerts often end with McFerrin conducting the orchestra in an a cappella
rendition of the "William Tell Overture
," in which the orchestra members sing their musical parts in McFerrin's vocal style instead of playing their parts on their instruments.
For a few years in the late 1990s, he toured a concert version of Porgy and Bess
, partly in honor of his father, who sang the role for Sidney Poitier
in the 1959 film version, and partly "to preserve the score's jazziness" in the face of "largely white orchestras" who tend not "to play around the bar lines, to stretch and bend". McFerrin says that because of his father's work in the movie, "This music has been in my body for 40 years, probably longer than any other music."
McFerrin also participates in various music education programs and makes volunteer appearances as a guest music teacher and lecturer at public schools throughout the U.S. McFerrin has collaborated with his son, Taylor, on various musical ventures. Taylor has recently been singing, rapping, and playing minimal keyboard accompaniment with Vernon Reid
(leader-guitarist of Living Colour
) in the eclectic metal-fusion-funk group Yohimbe Brothers.
In 2009, McFerrin and musician-scientist Daniel Levitin
served as co-hosts of "The Music Instinct", a 2 hour award-winning documentary produced by PBS and based on Levitin's best-selling book This Is Your Brain On Music
. Later that year, the two appeared together on a panel at the World Science Festival
where McFerrin demonstrated audience participation with the ubiquitous nature of human understanding of the pentatonic scale
by singing and dancing, and having the audience sing while following his movements.
In October 2010, Bobby McFerrin appeared on NPR's news quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me.
In February 2011, Bruce Hornsby
noted that McFerrin is in the process of organizing a super-group to debut in 2012.
Don't Worry, Be Happy
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. Released in September 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart...
". He is a ten-time Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winner.
Life
Bobby McFerrin was born in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City, the son of operatic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
Robert McFerrin
Robert McFerrin
Robert McFerrin Sr. was the first African-American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...
and singer Sara Copper. Robert Sr. was the first African American to be a regular with New York's Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
. Sara is a former soloist with regional opera companies and in Broadway shows, and is a professor emeritus of music at Fullerton College
Fullerton College
Fullerton College is the oldest community college in continuous operation in California, having been established in 1913. Current enrollment is 22,014.- History 1913 to 1972 :...
in Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
.
Bobby McFerrin was married to Debbie Green in 1975. They have three children.
McFerrin's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy
Don't Worry, Be Happy
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. Released in September 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart...
" was a No. 1 U.S. pop hit in 1988 and won Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
and Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
honors. McFerrin has also worked in collaboration with instrumental performers, including pianists Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, and Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
, drummer Tony Williams, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
.
Vocal technique
As a vocalist, McFerrin often switches rapidly between modal and falsettoFalsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
registers to create polyphonic effects, performing both the main melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and the accompanying parts of songs. He makes use of percussive effects created both with his mouth and by tapping on his chest. McFerrin is also capable of multiphonic
Multiphonic
Multiphonics is an extended technique in instrumental music in which a monophonic instrument is made to produce several notes at once....
singing, as observed in his song "Drive" from the 2005 DVD Live in Montreal.
A notable document of McFerrin's approach to singing is his 1984 album The Voice
The Voice (Bobby McFerrin album)
The Voice is a solo album by Bobby McFerrin, featuring his peculiar style of vocal improvisation. In contrast with his previous Elektra album, here the vocalist is unaccompanied by other musicians, and no instruments are used on the album...
, the first solo vocal jazz album recorded with no accompaniment or overdubbing.
In 1986, McFerrin was the voice of Santa Bear in "Santa Bear's First Christmas," and in 1987 he was the voice of Santa Bear/Bully Bear in the sequel "Santa Bear's High Flying Adventure." That same year, he performed the theme song for the opening credits of Season 4 of The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
, as well as the music for a Cadbury
Cadbury
-Businesses:*Cadbury Adams, the company's North American subsidiary*Cadbury Ireland, the company's Irish subsidiary*Cadbury UK, the company's UK subsidiary*Cadbury India, the company's Indian subsidiary*Cadbury New Zealand, the company's New Zealand subsidiary...
chocolate commercial.
In 1988, McFerrin recorded the hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy
Don't Worry, Be Happy
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. Released in September 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart...
", which brought him widespread recognition across the world. However, the song's success "ended McFerrin's musical life as he had known it," and he began to pursue other musical possibilities – on stage and in recording studios. The song was used in George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
's 1988 U.S. presidential election as Bush's 1988 official presidential campaign song, without Bobby McFerrin's permission or endorsement. In reaction, Bobby McFerrin publicly protested that particular use of his song, including stating that he was going to vote against Bush, and completely dropped the song from his own performance repertoire, to make the point even clearer.
In 1989, he composed and performed the music for the Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
short film Knick Knack
Knick Knack
Knick Knack is a computer animated short film produced by Pixar, and directed by John Lasseter. It was released in 1989, and was the last short film produced by Pixar until the success of their full-length motion picture Toy Story and the final short Pixar made as a hardware company. It was also...
. The rough cut to which McFerrin recorded his vocals had the words "blah blah blah" in place of the end credits (meant to indicate that he should improvise). McFerrin spontaneously decided to sing "blah blah blah" as lyrics, and the final version of the short film includes these lyrics during the end credits. Also in 1989, he formed a ten-person "Voicestra" which he featured on both his 1990 album Medicine Music and in the score to the 1989 Oscar-winning documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt is a 1989 documentary film that tells the story of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman with a musical score written and performed by Bobby McFerrin, the film focuses on several people who are represented by panels in the Quilt,...
. The song "Common Threads" has frequently reappeared in some public service advertisements for AIDS. McFerrin also performed with the Vocal Summit.
As early as 1992, widespread rumors circulated that falsely claimed McFerrin committed suicide. The rumors intentionally made fun of the distinctly positive nature of his popular song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by claiming McFerrin ironically took his own life.
In 1993 McFerrin sang Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
's "Pink Panther" theme for the movie Son of the Pink Panther
Son of the Pink Panther
Son of the Pink Panther is the ninth entry in the 30-year-old The Pink Panther film series. Directed by Blake Edwards, it stars Roberto Benigni as Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son. Also in this film are Panther regulars Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk and Graham Stark and a star of the original 1963...
.
In addition to his vocal performing career, in 1994 Mr. McFerrin was appointed as creative chair of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra , based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is the United States' only full-time professional chamber orchestra...
. He makes regular tours as a guest conductor for symphony orchestras throughout the United States and Canada, including the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
(on his 40th birthday), the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
, the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
, the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
, the London Philharmonic
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
, the Vienna Philharmonic and many others. In McFerrin's concert appearances, he combines serious conducting of classical pieces with his own unique vocal improvisations, often with participation from the audience and the orchestra. For example, the concerts often end with McFerrin conducting the orchestra in an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
rendition of the "William Tell Overture
William Tell Overture
The William Tell Overture is the instrumental introduction to the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal...
," in which the orchestra members sing their musical parts in McFerrin's vocal style instead of playing their parts on their instruments.
For a few years in the late 1990s, he toured a concert version of Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
, partly in honor of his father, who sang the role for Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
in the 1959 film version, and partly "to preserve the score's jazziness" in the face of "largely white orchestras" who tend not "to play around the bar lines, to stretch and bend". McFerrin says that because of his father's work in the movie, "This music has been in my body for 40 years, probably longer than any other music."
McFerrin also participates in various music education programs and makes volunteer appearances as a guest music teacher and lecturer at public schools throughout the U.S. McFerrin has collaborated with his son, Taylor, on various musical ventures. Taylor has recently been singing, rapping, and playing minimal keyboard accompaniment with Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid is an English-born American guitarist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader. Best known as the founder and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Living Colour, Reid was named #66 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Critic Steve Huey writes, "[Reid's]...
(leader-guitarist of Living Colour
Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...
) in the eclectic metal-fusion-funk group Yohimbe Brothers.
In 2009, McFerrin and musician-scientist Daniel Levitin
Daniel Levitin
Professor Daniel J. Levitin, Ph.D. is a prominent American cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, record producer, musician, and writer...
served as co-hosts of "The Music Instinct", a 2 hour award-winning documentary produced by PBS and based on Levitin's best-selling book This Is Your Brain On Music
This Is Your Brain On Music
This Is Your Brain On Music is a popular science book written by the McGill University neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin, and first published by Dutton Books in the U.S. and Canada in 2006, and updated and released in paperback by Plume/Penguin in 2007...
. Later that year, the two appeared together on a panel at the World Science Festival
World Science Festival
The World Science Festival is a science festival held in New York City that is held annually in the summer. The 2008 inaugural festival was held May 28 – June 1 and consisted mainly of panel discussions and on-stage conversations, accompanied by multimedia presentations.The festival was the...
where McFerrin demonstrated audience participation with the ubiquitous nature of human understanding of the pentatonic scale
Pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
by singing and dancing, and having the audience sing while following his movements.
In October 2010, Bobby McFerrin appeared on NPR's news quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me.
In February 2011, Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...
noted that McFerrin is in the process of organizing a super-group to debut in 2012.
As leader
- Bobby McFerrinBobby McFerrin (album)Bobby McFerrin is an album by Bobby McFerrin released in 1982 . -Track listing:All songs written by Bobby McFerrin except where noted# "Dance with Me" - 4:08# "Feline" – 5:08...
(1982) - The VoiceThe Voice (Bobby McFerrin album)The Voice is a solo album by Bobby McFerrin, featuring his peculiar style of vocal improvisation. In contrast with his previous Elektra album, here the vocalist is unaccompanied by other musicians, and no instruments are used on the album...
(1984) - Spontaneous InventionsSpontaneous InventionsSpontaneous Inventions is a studio album by Bobby McFerrin, released in 1986 through the record label EMI. The album reached number 3 on the Billboard 200, number 62 on Billboards R&B Albums chart, number 6 on the Top Jazz Albums chart, and number 2 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart....
(1987) - Elephant's Child (1987)
- Simple Pleasures (1988)
- Don't Worry, Be HappyDon't Worry, Be Happy (album)Don't Worry, Be Happy is a compilation album by Bobby McFerrin.-Track listing: All tracks composed by Bobby McFerrin, except where indicated.# "Don't Worry, Be Happy" – 4:51# "Turtle Shoes" – - 3:34...
(1988) - How the Rhino Got His Skin/How the Camel Got His Hump (1990)
- Medicine MusicMedicine MusicMedicine Music is a studio album by Bobby McFerrin, released in 1990 through the record label EMI. The album reached number 146 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart....
(1990) - PlayPlay (Chick Corea and Bobby McFerrin album)Play is an album by Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea. -Track listing: # "Spain" – 10:12# "Even From Me" – 6:34# "Autumn Leaves" – 11:41# "Blues Connotation" – 7:13# "'Round Midnight" – 7:59# "Blue Bossa" – 6:14-Production:...
, with Chick CoreaChick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, 1992 - HushHush (Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin album)Hush is an album by Bobby McFerrin and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.- Track listing :# "Grace" – 3:54# "Double Mandolin Concerto in G, RV 532" Andante – 4:03# "The Flight of the Bumblebee" – 1:08...
, with Yo-Yo MaYo-Yo MaYo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, 1992 - Many Faces of Bird (1991)
- "The Siamese Cat Song" on Simply Mad About the Mouse (1991)
- Sorrow Is Not Forever (1994)
- Paper Music (1995, Doick with the St. Paul Chamber orchestra)
- Bang! ZoomBang! ZoomBang! Zoom is a studio album by Bobby McFerrin, released in 1995 through the record label Blue Note. The album reached number 10 on Billboards Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart....
(1996) - The Mozart Sessions, with Chick CoreaChick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, 1996 - Circlesongs (1997)
- Mouth Music (2001)
- Beyond Words (2002) – featuring Chick Corea, Cyro BaptistaCyro BaptistaCyro Baptista is a Brazilian musician, teacher, and recording artist specializing in percussion in the genres of jazz and world music....
and Richard BonaRichard BonaRichard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. His real African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo... - Konzert für Europa -The Schönbrunn Concert (2004)
- VOCAbuLarieS (2010)
As sideman
- Pharoah SandersPharoah SandersPharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
, Journey to the One, 1980 - Grover Washington, Jr.Grover Washington, Jr.Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...
, The Best Is Yet to Come, 1982 - Various Artists, The Young Lions, 1983
- Charles Lloyd Quartet, A Night in Copenhagen, 1984
- Various Artists, A Tribute to Thelonius Monk, 1984
- Chico FreemanChico FreemanChico Freeman is a modern jazz tenor saxophonist and trumpeter and son of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman...
, Tangents, 1984 - Michael HedgesMichael HedgesMichael Alden Hedges was an American composer, Acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Background:...
, Watching My Life Go ByWatching My Life Go ByWatching My Life Go By is a recording by guitarist Michael Hedges released in 1985. After two solo instrumental albums, Hedges supplies vocals on this release.-Track listing:...
, 1985 - The Manhattan TransferThe Manhattan TransferThe Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
, Vocalese, 1985 - Joe ZawinulJoe ZawinulJosef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
, Di•a•lectsDi•a•lectsDi•a•lects is an album by Austrian jazz keyboardist and composer Joe Zawinul, released in 1986. On the original liner it appears:The Compositions on this CD are my impressions of the many peoples and places I have visited; their moods, songs, laughter, dances; the sights and sounds of the daily...
, 1986 - Weather ReportWeather ReportWeather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, Sportin' LifeSportin' LifeSportin' Life is the twelfth studio album by Weather Report, released in 1985. Although featuring many more vocal performances than any of their previous albums, words are rare and most vocals are chants from Bobby McFerrin or Carl Anderson...
, 1985 - Al JarreauAl JarreauAlwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
, Heart’s Horizon, 1988 - Quincy JonesQuincy JonesQuincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, Back on the BlockBack on the BlockBack on the Block is a 1989 studio album produced by Quincy Jones. It features many famous and important musicians and singers, including Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul, Ice-T, Big Daddy Kane, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Barry White,...
, 1989 - Laurie Anderson, Strange Angels, 1989
- Gal CostaGal CostaGal Costa is a Brazilian singer of popular music.-Early life:...
, The Laziest Gal in Town, 1991 - Dizzy GillespieDizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, "To Bird With Love", 1992 - Jack DeJohnetteJack DeJohnetteJack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
, Extra Special Edition, 1994 - YellowjacketsYellowjacketsYellowjackets is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz quartet.-History:The original group, called The Robben Ford Group, was formed in 1977, and consisted of Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson, all top-notch L.A. session musicians...
, Dreamland, 1995 - George MartinGeorge MartinSir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
, In My Life, 1998 – on "Come Together" with Robin WilliamsRobin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance... - En VogueEn VogueEn Vogue is an American female R&B vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music...
, Masterpiece TheatreMasterpiece TheatreMasterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
, 2000 - Bela Fleck and the FlecktonesBéla Fleck and the FlecktonesBéla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...
, Little WorldsLittle WorldsLittle Worlds is the tenth album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 2003. The album was released as a 3-disc set. Ten tracks from the set were also released on a single disc called Ten from Little Worlds....
, 2003 - Chick CoreaChick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
, Rendezvous in New YorkRendezvous in New YorkRendezvous in New York is an album by American pianist Chick Corea, released on April 22, 2003, on Corea's own Stretch Records, as a two-CD set. The recording took place at the Blue Note club in New York City over the course of three weeks that marked the 60th anniversary of Corea, with nine...
, 2003 - Wynton MarsalisWynton MarsalisWynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, The Magic HourThe Magic Hour (album)The Magic Hour is an album by Wynton Marsalis, released in 2004 through the record label Blue Note. The album peaked at number two on Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart....
, 2004 - size2shoesSize2shoessize2shoes is a cross-genre Irish band from Limerick City. The band, who released their début album, size2shoes in December 2008, have been featured on national television and radio in both Ireland and America...
, 2006 (free track)
Grammys
- 1985, Best Jazz Vocal Performance, male, "Another Night In Tunisia" with Jon HendricksJon HendricksJon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...
- 1985, Best Vocal Arrangement for two or more voices, "Another Night In Tunisia" with Cheryl Bentyne
- 1986, Best Jazz Vocal Performance, male, "Round Midnight"
- 1987, Best Jazz Vocal Performance, male, "What Is This Thing Called Love"
- 1987, Best Recording for Children, "The Elephant's Child" with Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
- 1988, Song of the year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, male, Record of the year, "Don't Worry, Be HappyDon't Worry, Be Happy"Don't Worry, Be Happy" is a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. Released in September 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart...
" - 1988, Best Jazz Vocal Performance, male, "Brothers"
- 1992, Best Jazz Vocal Performance, "Round Midnight"