Bobby Mcferrin Analysis

The Jazz scene was not only instrumental but vocal, throughout the 20th-century artists around the world began to record their music with lyrics and a message to sing. It is interesting to note how artists change over time, by techniques they have used to pioneer a new sound of jazz. Although similar in genre, artists Lizz Wright and Bobby McFerrin have multiple differences and similarities to compare such as their decade of creating music, style, vocal and instrumentational techniques, and tempo. Lizz Wright had a humble beginning, she sang and played piano in the church of her hometown in the 1990’s, while Bobby McFerrin recorded his first album in the 1980’s at age 32. Wright’s style of music is geared towards vocal jazz, gospel, and blues, in comparison to McFerrin’s acapella performances and imitation of instruments.

Meanwhile McFerrin’s song “Hallucinations”, he uses the same bebop style and melody throughout the whole song while sounding out the base and trumpet using his voice. I found McFerrin’s techniques to be very impressive because he pioneered the use of an octave-jumping technique moving from bass notes to falsetto, creating multiple sounds. Although, Wright’s music is more soulful, and she uses her raw voice to extend words and notes but also fuses gospel with jazz by using the guitar drums and piano. In my opinion, Wright and McFerrin’s tempo is very distant from one another. Wright’s tempo can be slow and have a feel-good gospel jazz vibe, whereas McFerrin’s is very fast and hard to keep up with, I do not believe his audience would use his song “Hallucinations” to kick back and relax to, contradicting its euphoric title. Both Lizz Wright and Bobby McFerrin are talented musicians who share characteristics of the vocal jazz scene but differ mainly in their style, techniques, and