Cheap VOCAbuLarieS Review
How stunning is this disc?
Put this disc into your c.d. changer, and press it to track 7, “Brief Eternity.” Now, picture this scenario: You have been battling cancer for a year. You have finally reached the end, where you don’t drink, you don’t eat, and your grip on life has reached the subconscious terminus. As you feel your spirit going to the light, as you begin to climb Jacob’s ladder, imagine this as the music you hear.
Needless to say, buy this c.d. for that track alone.
Yet, what that track really is is the final exclamation point on what is a choral masterpiece.
In the period of 1986-1998 or so, Bobby McFerrin was one of the finest working jazz singers in the world. Although the pop culture knows him for probably the most annoying one-hit wonder ever, “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” the rest of the world knew him as one with an incredible vocal range and even more incredible imagination. For all the great work he did during that time frame, my favorite album by far was “Medicine Music.” There, Bobby McFerrin multi-tracked his voice and created a chant that was an intoxicating blend of swing, classical, and African elegy that was both unique and intoxicating.
Then, McFerrin left the performing world for a brief while and explored the world of classical music in St. Paul, Minnesota.
This is his first recording in 8 years, but it’s a showcase for him as conductor and arranger more than as singer. With the incredible efforts of singer, arranger and co-producer, Roger Treece, he (they) have created a choral masterpiece. It is an extension of “Medicine Music,” but with even more layers of sound and more complexities. Hence, I call it “neo-chantical.”
And they have reprised and recast 3 of the best songs from “Medicine Music” -”Baby” (track 1), “The Garden” (track 5) and “He Ran (before “All the Way,” now “To the Train,” track 6), into multiple-layered, multiple-keyed and multiple tempi works of art.
Any recording with a chorus of singers such as those from The New York Voices, Moss and the Manhattan Transfer, just for starters, is bound to be special. But for the 50-voiced extravaganza this is, I could imagine an honor choir of a number of colleges with 100 or more voices doing an even more inspired rendition of this album under a baton such as Maestro McFerrin.
This c.d. is truly special. There just aren’t enough stars in the universe to give it. I can’t imagine what c.d. in 2010 will top it – and so far, this has been a pretty good year. RC
p.s.: 6/4/10 – I received the July 2010 issue of Down Beat, and was shocked. Their “big 4 critics” rate this between 2 and 3 and 1/2 stars. They use words and phrases like “bland arrangements,” “ambiguously originated world music vibe,” “unlistenable spiritual quest,” “More a construction project than a performance,” “a record that does seem to spill on and on and on,” “off-putting,” and “I know I’ll never listen to this music again.” I don’t usually think of myself missing the boat that badly, but I guess according to these experts, I did. I’ve listened to this numerous times since writing my initial review, and I still think it’s a masterpiece; but maybe the way to reconcile the divergent opinions is to say that it’s a choral masterpiece, and Down Beat isn’t very in to choral music. I do note that like me, Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times raved about this c.d. RC
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