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The return - I started this blog as an unofficial vehicle for interesting statistical information. When I retired, I let it lie fallow. I'm going to post here period...6 months ago
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Gender Wage Gap By State - Census Bureau - If you need a reason to start a business, the gender wage gap may be a factor. The Census has created a new visualization of the disparity between male ...2 years ago
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It takes a lot of practice - A friend asked: “If you had the chance to ask three different people (living or dead, famous or not) ONE question… who and what would you ask?” The one req...3 years ago
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Faded road markings cause concern - Q: Can someone at New York state tell me why the DOT doesn’t use a better reflective paint when the lines are painted? It appears the paint used has no ref...4 years ago
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Goodbye but NOT farewell - Using the words which Roger used in his intro for the last post of round 20--- Z *With joy, we'll dream away each sorrow, With love we'll live for each...6 years ago
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Library Worker Defends Patron’s Free Speech, Is Brutally Arrested in Library Where He Works - From BORDC: “For someone to be assaulted and then arrested for asking a question, in a public library of all places, is abhorrent. The library should be ...7 years ago
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Alan Moore's Twilight Proposal - Introduction by Alan David Doane: Honestly I didn't intend the irony, but this week's FMF, looking at Alan Moore's never-published Twilight proposal, also ...12 years ago
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People I Know
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A Pathway to Careers in Offshore Wind Energy Is Coming To Oneonta - Sustainability is on the move in New York and at SUNY. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced $4 million in grants for offshore wind train...3 weeks ago
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Concert Review: Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba at UPH 2/16/24 - When Bassekou Kouyate asked “Are you happy?” at Universal Preservation Hall Friday, he knew the answer. Everybody was, both in the audience and onstage. ...5 weeks ago
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The Best Films of 2023 - Martin Scorsese, left, Lily Gladstone, and Robert DeNiro all received Oscar nods for *Killers of the Flower Moon*. Some say Leo DiCaprio, right, was snubbe...1 month ago
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Getting Ready To Die - Getting Ready To DieNo, as far as I know, it’s not imminent, but you never know. An awful lot of people are checking out in the seventh decade that I just ...5 months ago
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Hello world! - Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!3 years ago
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Petitioning season cut short - Political "petitioning season" for U.S. Congress, NYS Assembly, NYS Senate, and a host of other positions, was cut short. Like all the other things that...4 years ago
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Freezing Cold March For Dr. King - Plus the politicized Census, police hiring shortfalls, ornamental apple trees and the mayor’s image cloaking device4 years ago
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Eagle Scout Project - Rutherford neighbor Krish Soni is getting started on his Eagle Scout project on Saturday, October 26. He will be labeling storm drains in the neighborhood ...4 years ago
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Kellyanne Conway named UAlbany graduation commencement speaker - Kellyanne Conway, the pollster who organized the election campaign of President Donald Trump, has been named by the University at Albany to be its keynote ...6 years ago
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We’re Off On An Adventure! - Just now, Marge and I are doing a bit of adventuring. The next adventure will include a whole new online reality and presence for me and my work… See you i...8 years ago
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It Changes - Living with Lupus and Fibro and Asthma is often not so much 'one day at a time.' It is much more like one fifteen minute segment of time - at at time. This...10 years ago
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Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye… - Well, kids, this is it. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow morning. My visits home will be few and far between, and when they happen, they’ll be exclusive...11 years ago
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Spring is here? - As far as the pro peloton goes, it’s on! I watched the Tour of Flanders today, and it was one of the best races I’ve ever seen. “Looking back, you get a b...12 years ago
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Modern Types-Ronald Searle,Geoffrey Gorer - With the recent attention given to Ronald Searle's 90th birthday and new interview,I decided to look at one of his books. The book is titled Modern Ty...14 years ago
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Eclectic Folks
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A bun-tastic day - Today I scored an important victory: I finally found some hot cross buns (photo above). It’s an annual tradition this time of year, and welcome move towar...8 hours ago
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A Conversation with Darius Fisher: Safeguarding Online Reputations - Title: A Conversation with Bobby Martino: Safeguarding Online Reputations In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, where information spreads at lightning s...2 weeks ago
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Sun Surf Sand & Sea 2024 - Vacation 2024 is on the books. Our family trek to the champagne shores of Cancun didn’t disappoint. It’s hard to coordinate eight people to meet anywhere, ...2 weeks ago
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1, 2, 3, 4: You Can Count On It - Up the stairs, count the steps1, 2, 3, 41, 2, 3, 41, 2, 3…Crap, it didn’t come out even, it’s eleven But 1-2-3-4-1/ 2 /3-4-1-2-3 will have to do; the middl...2 weeks ago
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second-guess - [image: young woman head & shoulders, hand on chin, surrounded by question marks; Text: The Confidence Catalyst Podcast, How to stop second-guessing you...5 weeks ago
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AmeriNZ 412 – Returning to normal mode - This week I’ve been starting to get back to regular life after my holiday. February is already shaping up to be a busy month. I start today with updates to...1 month ago
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Here we are at 21. - Happy 21st birthday, Johnny Bacardi Show! Probably won't begin writing here again anytime soon, but hey, if you like my stuff I have a Substack now and...5 months ago
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Check me out! - Over the years I have collected a range of recipes to help me lose weight. I attend Slimming World and achieved my target weight in November 2022. Read...5 months ago
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This is The End (a follow-up) - I wrote yesterday about my possibly retiring this space in favor of migrating all of my blogging to ForgottenStars.net, because of Reasons. I am now pul...2 years ago
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A Dumb God - People who believe in God but don’t believe that creation is teleologically imbued essentially believe in a dumb God, likely a God who merely exists to ser...2 years ago
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18 and life, you got it - It's the 18th of April, and that means it's the anniversary of Mia's accident - 18 (!!!!) years ago today, we were in the crash that damaged her brain ir...2 years ago
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Sunday Round-up - Wash your mouth out In these ultra-hygienic days, Russian artist Yulia Popova has come into her own by making models of foodstuffs out of soap. What makes y...3 years ago
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I believe ..Religion - Written by the Rev.Jeannette van der Veen-Bosgra I believe in a world where all people can live in happiness, and that I too have a duty to create such a wo...5 years ago
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Tough Day - A few weeks ago, I turned 38, and I am still under the scrutiny of strangers in public. One would think that once you're out of grade school, middle school...5 years ago
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Retro Y'all! - Still jumping. In place, mostly. Someone should do one of these rap battle style brags about being a junker. Seriously. Big sale at the Peddlers Mall today.5 years ago
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X is for XMAS - *MERRY CHRISTMAS (XMAS) EVERYONE!* I thought I'd put a link to the top 100 Xmas songs for 2017 so you could click on it and play anything your heart d...6 years ago
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The Myth Memers - One of those little questionnaires just to dip a toe back into blogging. Took this from Chris Hull's Facebook. 1. Do you make your bed? No. 2. The first c...6 years ago
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Now available in paperback! - *Sharp: A Memoir*. William Morrow & Co, 2012. Print. We lost 4 members of the Guilford High School Class of 84: David Ciardello, Richard Eaton, Ronnie Burn...7 years ago
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No parallel - Get a good look at these: Whence they came: After seeing that incredible glow-in-the-dark Zac Posen dress that Claire Danes wore at the 2016 Met Gala, Lori...7 years ago
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ABC Wednesday: The Importance of Being Bored - When I was growing up, you being bored was your problem that you were responsible to rectify. As children we learned never to be bored- or at least not t...7 years ago
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Monday PSA: The Pioneer of the Pole - Click on the image for the full ad As promised, the second of two Antarctica themed PSAs. Today: “Pioneer of the Pole.” Just like last week, this is from D...7 years ago
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Final Act - Dear Followers of Berowne's "Savage Reflections." I'm very sorry to have to inform you that my father, John Savage, passed away on December 26, just a week...8 years ago
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Friday Post - Your services are no longer needed - Heads will roll While the good news fairies of Wall Street would have you believe that everything is just hunky dory the truth is it's not. In order to m...8 years ago
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Age is a State of Mind, Somewhere Near Nebraska - What a year it has been! After surviving the odometer rolling over to 40, I had a year of sabbatical. That gave me plenty of time to think about my mid-lif...8 years ago
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The End of a Long Day - You know those days where all you really want to do is change into your pajamas and curl up on the couch while you decide which comfort food would mak...9 years ago
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Choosing Blogs To Comment On For Effective Backlinks And Networking - Choosing a blog to comment on should never be taken lightly. These tips will help you make the most of your time and effectiveness of your backlinks. Th...10 years ago
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#Freaking Out -AND! - Calmly completely freaking out about my move. AND! I quit smoking. I feel this qualifies me to have an opinion on how to do it. So I am calmly completel...10 years ago
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Gaze Upon My Works and Snicker, Part 53. - [image: DP700-F365028] Another quickie sketch at work, because I wanted to draw Pandora A in a white fuzzy hat (no, I don't know the name for them) and a b...10 years ago
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Superheroes I Love #10: Deathlok - Every red-blooded boy loves cyborgs. Half-man, half-robot, what’s not to love? The Marvel Comics character Deathlok is a bit on the obscure side, but debut...12 years ago
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Comic Book Links
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Soup Redux6 hours ago
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Free Comic Book Day 20185 years ago
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Ten Years6 years ago
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Media Blogs
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Daniel Kahneman, renowned psychologist and Nobel prize winner, dies at 90 - The Guardian - 1. Daniel Kahneman, renowned psychologist and Nobel prize winner, dies at 90 The Guardian 2. Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate who upended econ...8 hours ago
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The Importance of Regular Sewer Inspections - Regular sewer checks are key to keeping your health, home, and costs safe. Out of The post The Importance of Regular Sewer Inspections appeared first on ...1 day ago
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Politics, Policy Blogs
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
M is for McFerrin
"There is something almost superhuman about the range and technique of Bobby McFerrin," says Newsweek. "He sounds, by turns, like a blackbird, a Martian, an operatic soprano, a small child, and a bebop trumpet."
Back in the early 1980s, I had heard of this a capella singer who performed in the jazz mode, making near orchestral sounds with his voice and body, named Bobby McFerrin. I was familiar with him mostly because every album had a some pop music covers. [Here is a live cover version of the Beatles' Blackbird.]
Almost every season of the popular sitcom called Cosby Show had a different version of the theme to open the show. For Season 4 (1987-1988), the opening was performed by McFerrin.
In the summer of 1988, I was in San Diego, riding in the car of my sister's friend Donald, when I heard a song called "Don't Worry, Be Happy" for the first time. I thought, "That could be a big hit in southern California, but I don't know if anyone else will buy it." Of course, it hit the national charts on July 30, and went to #1 for two weeks, starting on September 30. (Here's one video, and this the video featuring McFerrin and Robin Williams.
Skip to in 1989, when he he formed a ten-person 'Voicestra' which he featured on his 1990 album Medicine Music. I happened to catch McFerrin and Voicestra one morning on NBC-TV's Today show. After a couple songs, I recall that Bryant Gumbel, then the co-host of the show, noted that McFerrin had said in an interview that he would no longer perform "Don't Worry, Be Happy", his only #1 hit, and that now he (Gumbel) understood why.
Sweet in the Morning from Medicine Music, featuring Voicestra.
Discipline, Featuring Robert McFerrin & Voicestra
I bought about a half dozen copies of that album to give as Christmas presents in 1990.
I was watching that episode with our brand-new new church choir director, Eric, who was crashing at our apartment until he found a place of his own. A couple years later, he arranged the McFerrin version of the 23rd Psalm for three guys in the choir to sing, Bob, Tim, and with me singing the highest part, all falsetto. On the recording, McFerrin sings all three vocal tracks, overdubbed, himself, which you can hear HERE.
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; this is Ma and McFerrin's version of Ave Maria.
My wife and I had the great good fortune to see bobby McFerrin live at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on August 6, 1999. Here's the review, from which I want to highlight the following:
Whether conducting the classics, improvising on an original tune plucked from thin air or cavorting within the ranks of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the affable McFerrin charms all in his wake.
Finding descriptive labels for the multitalented McFerrin seems futile. His talent is so broad and diverse that there seems to be nothing he can't do well, including stand-up comedy. There's a serious side, too, as the wunderkind leads the likes of the Philly through compositions by major composers such as Sergei Prokofiev and Felix
Mendelssohn.
McFerrin's uncanny ability to do "voices" put the audience on the floor with
all the characters from "Oz," the most memorable of which was Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch line -- "Come here, my little pretty!"
[This was HYSTERICAL.]
McFerrin invited singers in the audience who knew the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria" to sing along. McFerrin sang every note of Bach's rippling arpeggios for accompaniment, while several audience soloists sang Gounod's wonderful melody over the top.
[This was absolutely extraordinary. One of the soloists was only a few rows in front of us.]
The Philly sang (yes, sang) the "William Tell Overture," for encore.
{A hoot.]
Listen to CircleSong Six from the CircleSong album.
As an Amazon review says:
"Despite the undeniable uniqueness of his gift, Bobby's music is always accessible and inviting. When he invites his fans to sing along, as he almost always does, few can resist. Inclusiveness, play, and the universality of voices raised together in song are at the heart of Bobby's art. Bobby McFerrin was exposed to a multitude of musical genres during his youth--classical, R&B, jazz, pop and world musics. 'When you grow up with that hodgepodge of music, it just comes out. It was like growing up in a multilingual house,' he says. Bobby McFerrin continues to explore the musical universe, known and unknown."
A Bobby McFerrin discography.
Bobby McFerrin turned 60 on March 11, 2010.
ROG
ABC Wednesday
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29 comments:
One of my favorite "singer" entertainers ever. His talent is mind-boggling.
I would have loved hearing you sing the Psalm arrangement.
B. McFerrin is a talented musician but is also a very funny man. He was the graduation speaker when his son graduated from high school at St. Paul Academy, where I used to teach before I retired from the English Department. Be Happy!!
I love McFerrin and he is an extremely talented man. Great post for the M day, Roger! Thanks for the memories!
Sylvia
If I were to get just one of his cds, which would you recommend for my DL who is very depressed right now as he faces his cancer surgery. He's a great afficianado of music, especially jazz and I think he just might enjoy this music. I don't think he has any of his records and he has well over 500 lps AND over 400 cds.
Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous post, Roger! He is one of my favorites too and it is odd that "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was the only #1 hit when his body of work far exceeds that recording!
I admit, I do not have the Medicine Man album, but now I think I will have to go get it!
Never heard of this guy before. I'll have to check him out.
Wonderfully talented performer that I had forgotten. I haven't seen him since he has dreadlocks. I followed all your links. Great post for the M day, Roger.
I never heard of this guy, time to search for his songs online.
Must find some of his msic to listen to!
Thanks Roger
D (ABC Team) of which you are an important part! x
One of my most favorite musicians ever - he's so multi-talented! Thanks for the links and all the info too! Great post Roger!
Don't worry, be happy - I know that one!
Some people just have... it!
I heard him on TED I believe and he was getting the audiend to echo him. What a great performance. I love his voice.
Thanks for such an informative post! Loved it!
Big fan of his. An Excellent choice.
I think 'Don't worry...' may be his only hit over here in the UK. I didn't realise he was such a talented artist.
Have a good week. :)
Wow, what an amazingly versatile and musical performer. His voice is just beautiful. I had never heard of him and can't understand why.
Happy Birthday B. McFerrin, I am not into music, and don't know many artist.
In Singapore, they have a sitcom called "Don't worry, be happy" in Chinese. I wonder if they stole it from McFerrin,
One of the living legend.
I have not seen these pictures of him.thank you so much for sharing.
Have you a great week now.
hugs
shakira
Thanks, I love that guy!
Truly a talented and versatile artist. Even though "Don't Worry" might have been his only #1, he is worthy of high awards for everything he's done.
McFerrin...hmm..I liked his don't worry song :)
Oh I love McFerrin!! What an amazing voice, this man was born to sing, he's all rhythm!
Lucas learnt to love him because of his soundtrack for the short-film Nicknack.
Great post!
Kisses from us.
As others have said he is indeed a talented musician and performer
When I started off reading this post, I was thinking to myself that I had never heard of him, but .... Don't Worry, Be Happy .... I do of course know who he is. It was just the name I didn't know. I didn't know just how accomplished he is.
Great post! Thanks for sharing.. I love that video where he sings Blackbird!!!
I don't know if I know him, if I hear him I could say yes or no.
Great photos indeed.
What an interesting performer! I still like 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' though.
My site is back up now - yay!
a very talented man indeed...thanks for sharing and thanks for swinging by on my blog....:)
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