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Vocal virtuoso Bobby McFerrin ranks among the most distinctive and original singers in contemporary music -- equally adept in jazz, pop and classical settings, his octave-jumping trademark style, with its rhythmic inhalations and stop-on-a-dime shifts from falsetto to deep bass notes, often sounds like the work of at least two or three singers at once, while at the same time sounding quite unlike anyone else. The son of husband-and-wife classical singers, McFerrin was born in New York City on March 11, 1950, later studying piano at California State College at Sacramento and Cerritos College. After touring behind the Ice Follies, he performed with a series of cover bands, cabaret acts and dance troupes before making his vocal debut in 1977. While living in New Orleans, he sang with the group Astral Projection before relocating to San Francisco. There he met legendary comedian Bill Cosby, who arranged for McFerrin to appear at the 1980 Playboy Jazz Festival.
A performance at the 1981 Kool Jazz Festival led to a contract with Elektra, and the following year McFerrin issued his self-titled debut LP. With 1984's The Voice, he made jazz history, recording the first-ever solo vocal album (sans accompaniment or overdubbing) to be released on a major label. His Blue Note debut Spontaneous Inventions followed in 1985 and featured contributions from Herbie Hancock, the Manhattan Transfer (on the Grammy-winning "Another Night in Tunisia") and comic Robin Williams; McFerrin also earned mainstream exposure through his unique performance of the theme song to the television hit The Cosby Show as well as a number of commercial spots. With 1988's Simple Pleasures, he scored a chart-topping pop smash with "Don't Worry, Be Happy"; around that time, he also formed the ten-member a cappella group Voicestra, featured on 1990's Medicine Music.
With 1992's Hush, McFerrin shifted gears to team with acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma; the record remained on the Billboard Classical Crossover charts for over two years. The jazz release Play, a collaboration with pianist Chick Corea, appeared in 1992 as well. McFerrin returned to classical territory in 1995 with Paper Music, a collection of interpretations of works by Mozart, Bach and Tchaikovsky recorded with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, (which he joined as Creative Chair a year prior). For 1996's Bang! Zoom he teamed with members of the Yellowjackets; a second collaboration with Corea, The Mozart Sessions, appeared later that same year. With 1997's Circlesongs, McFerrin returned to his roots, recording an entire album of improvised vocal performances. He then recorded a collaborative album of classical and jazz standards for Sony Music Special Products in 2001. It teamed him with such esteemed musicians as Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. A year later Blue Note released his Beyond Words album, McFerrin's first work for the label in nearly a decade. It featured a band comprised of Chick Corea, Richard Bona, Omar Hakim, Cyro Baptista, and Gil Goldstein. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
News Breakers: Radiohead, Bobby Brown, Kiss, Evans, Jet
Yorke wary of environmental cost of touring; Brown pays child support; Simmons tour perfume; country star goes on offensive; Jet cancels Euro dates.
Radiohead's Yorke sounds off on touring
Radiohead
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, a vocal supporter of Friends of the Earth's "Big Ask" campaign to reduce carbon emissions in the UK by making it law, has lashed out at the environmental damage caused by bands touring. Yorke told the Guardian that he is looking into alternative forms of transit as a result, including taking a train to Japan, and has also threatened to quit playing long distance locations if steps are not taken to reduce carbon emissions.
"I think it's a necessary part of what I do, to tour or play live, but I find it unacceptable what the consequences of that are," he said. "Some of our best ever shows have been in the US, but there's 80,000 people there and they've all been sitting in traffic jams for five or six hours with their engines running to get there, which is bollocks. The way that tours are structured now and the way it works is a ridiculous consumption of energy...I would consider refusing to tour on environmental grounds, if nothing started happening to change the way the touring operates."
Yorke said he's brought up the idea of traveling by train but that his band members have opposed it. "When you discuss it you feel like a prat because you're saying, 'I'm not happy with that and I want to do it another way. I want to go to the US by ship'," he said. "The Cure did that years ago because Robert Smith refused to fly, and then I get told that if you take the ship, that's as much carbon usage. Long haul flights just feel wrong. I'm trying to figure out a way of getting to Japan by train. I quite fancy that Trans-Siberian whatsitsname but apparently it's a bit scary."
Yorke might want to give LA-based alt-pop duo the Ditty Bops a call. Bandmates Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald recently toured the US while traveling by bicycle, and they're equipment followed them along the way in a van powered by biodiesel.
Bobby Brown pays up
In, um, happier times.
Hoping to avoid jail time, Bobby Brown has paid the back child support he owed to Kim Ward, the mother of two of his children, according to the Associated Press. Earlier this month, a Massachusetts judge issued an arrest warrant for the singer, who owed $11,000--two months of support--after Brown skipped a court hearing over his delinquent payments. Brown is in the midst of a divorce from wife Whitney Houston, who is reportedly working on a comeback album.
Patrick McDermott, the registrar of probate for the Norfolk Probate and Family Courts, told the AP that although no paperwork has been filed, both sides have said Brown appropriately settled the child support issue. "I have at least been given the word that Kim Ward is satisfied that payment has been made and she's good to go, for now," he said. Brown and Houston were married for 14 years, and have one daughter, Bobbi Kristina, 13.
Kiss promotes fragrances
Kiss
Gene Simmons is not prepared to argue with America. The Kiss frontman said the US has asked for a Kiss line of fragrances, and he and his bandmates are complying. Simmons appeared at a North Carolina Army base this week to promote the new line of cosmetic fragrances, dubbed Kiss Him and Kiss Her. The fragrances will cost $39 apiece. "If people decide that a Kiss fragrance line makes sense, who's to argue with America?" Simmons said in a statement.
Evans hits back at husband
Sara Evans and husband Craig Schelske
Country singer Sara Evans, who filed for divorce from her husband and quit the TV show Dancing With the Stars last week, has gone on the offensive against her estranged husband. Evans obtained a restraining order against her estranged husband, Craig Schelske, that prohibits him from withdrawing money from their joint accounts, People magazine reported, claiming that Schelske transferred a total of $275,000 from his and Evans's joint personal and business bank accounts into an account in his name only on the same day Evans filed for divorce.
Evans has accused Schelske of verbal abuse, harassment, excessive consumption of alcohol and adultery, as well as maintaining a library of many pornographic photographs of himself, along with photographs showing him having sex with other women, according to court papers. Schelske has denied the claims. Evans, 35, and Schelske, 43, married in 1993 and have three children ranging in age from 2 to 7.
Jet forced to cancel tour
Jet
Australian rockers Jet have been forced to cancel their forthcoming European tour because frontman Nic Cester has yet to recover from a bout with laryngitis. The band had previously pulled out of shows in the US after the singer fell ill. Cester will now spend the next two weeks in London undergoing specialist treatment and is expected to make a full recovery. "There isn't much more I can say than that we're sorry that we've had to do this," the band said in a statement. "Everyone is extremely frustrated, no one more so than Nic. I know everyone in the band was looking forward to this leg of the tour immensely, as we've being tried our hardest to make up for the dates that we had to cancel last time, due to our father falling ill."
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