Thanks KQED Arts! Bobby McFerrin & Motion —>
“It is the best kept secret in Berkeley right now. Playing the audience as his second instrument, McFerrin is clearly still an unparalleled creative force, a peaceful warrior of song.”
A Communal Jam Session
McFerrin released Circlesongs as an album in 1997, but the term describes something much bigger: a completely improvised collective performance. The project began in the late 1980s, first as “Voicestra,” then “Hard Choral” in the nineties, and, until the pandemic, “Gimme 5.” The latest group, “Motion,” is aptly named.
“The simplest definition of improvisation is motion,” says McFerrin. “Play one note, then you play another one, and then another. And everyone can do that. It’s just like following words on a page.”
If improvising is like reading a book, it’s one we’re all writing. McFerrin leads Circlesongs, playing the microphone like a piccolo, his longtime soundman Dan Vicari adding just the right amount of reverb to turn the wooden paneled room into a European cathedral. But like any great improviser, McFerrin knows how to foreground others. Bryan Dyer sings a rubber-band bassline to every figure, accompanied by the uncanny realism of Dave Worm’s vocal percussion. Destani Wolf harmonizes above and below, while Tammi Brown takes us into heavens of the higher registers. If you’re a vocalist or instrumentalist, don’t forget your axe: you may find yourself onstage.
