Bobby McFerrin, 2010.
I am not going to refer to Bobby McFerrin any more as the bloke who did "Don't Worry Be Happy"...although in some ways this may have been helpful in terms of labelling/categorising, ultimately it really limits thinking about who Bobby is and what he does.
He is a (predominantly)vocal composer/arranger/performer and works a huge range of styles.
This CD follows the experimental Circlesongs, a set of highly repetitive pieces with complex vocal textures based on African circle performances, and a more commercial CD entitled Beyond Words which incorporates jazz timbres and structures into its songs.
Vocabularies recruits over 50 voices into its texture, with spectacular results. The writing is quite complex, and the dynamic range within the songs is huge - a range of languages is used, often several within one song, and it would seem this is done for timbral effect as much as linguistic.
Atmospheric, evocative and mesmerising pieces - The Garden is a revamp of the song from McFerrin's earlier "Medicine Man" album (also worth a listen), and expands and elaborates the original fantastically - like growing a forest from a little seed.
This is a highly successful experiment (collaborator is Roger Treece), and it will be interesting to see where the ideas flow from here.
10/10.
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