The New York Times says: "Bobby McFerrin is an accomplished musician who burst onto the a cappella world in the ...80's. Often appearing alone on stage, Mr. McFerrin sang multiple parts in a cappella renditions of popular and original songs. If a rhythm was needed, he produced it with his voice or his body...... He started making people aware of what you could do with one voice and one body..... He pointed to a new direction for vocal music, so people started listening with a fresh set of ears."

Newsweek says: "The critics in Germany call him "Stimmwunder" (wonder voice), and it's not hard to understand why. There is something almost superhuman about the range and technique of jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin. he sounds, by turns, like a blackbird, a Martian, an operatic soprano, a small child and a be-bop trumpet."

The Nation says: "McFerrin is an inspired performer. For years now, he's been enacting a mild form of audience participation as jazz improvisation, structuring what he does around spur-of-the-moment ideas and whims that, thanks to his enormous talent and deft practice, translate into a good time for all."

The Los Angeles Times says: "The hyperkinetic, superpersonable, wide-ranging singer, scion of a family of musicians, does more than vocalize, conduct and product music. He lives it."

Primarily A Cappella says: There is no doubt in our minds that this is the single most important a cappella singer of our time. His inspiring creations pushed the boundaries of our horizons so far that legions of singers have yet to begin exploring the possibilities of which he made us aware. You see, by his actions he proved that there are no boundaries. We can't begin to tell you how he got there but we can give an idea of what he did on the way to becoming the world's only one man vocal band.

His parents were both classical singers who supported young Bobby's study of musical theory at age six. Throughout his high school years in Los Angeles the piano was his primary instrument. It was in 1977 that he heard an internal voice saying sing, Sing, SING! He had by that time completed his formal education and practical education as well, touring with the Ice Follies, a series of pop bands, cabaret acts and dance troupes. His inspiration to sing was first channeled into piano and voice jazz improvisations. Then in 1983 he began to give a cappella solo performances which led to a tour in Germany where he received tremendous acclaim. In short order, due to numerous appearances on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, where he was a treasured guest, combining his talents with numerous artists such as Manhattan Transfer, Herbie Hancock, Jon Hendricks and Robin Williams he became a well known creative luminary.

His awards and honors are just too numerous to discover them all. Ten Grammies and multiple CARAs leap to mind. One great wonder of Bobby McFerrin has been his desire to share his creative spirit with other singers and with groups of young people. After his work with Voicestra, his vocal orchestra, he went on to conduct the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra which he joined in April of 1994 as Creative Chair. He has conducted numerous symphony orchestras including the New Your Philharmonic, The Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the London Philharmonic. In his discography are not only solo works but improvisation duets with internationally renown cellist Yo-Yo Ma, two with Chick Corea, one with Voicestra (and a few songs on Medicine Man) and a collaboration with The Yellow Jackets.

Does his creative vision have any end. No, it doesn't. As we write this cursory profile of someone who is constantly adventuring, Bobby McFerrin is on a performing sabbatical in order to compose an opera with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner. When this commission by the San Francisco Opera is premiered in September of 2001 who knows in what direction he will head. Let's hope our future holds some more of his a cappella. It's possible because he said, "I love to sing and I love to be adventuresome. It's like the thrill of your first hang-gliding experience, standing on top of a mountain and getting ready to jump off--you've got faith in this big kite in back of you. With me, it's the same way with singing, especially a cappella."

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