In 2003, Bobby McFerrin and Richard Bona did this ten-minute improvisation at the Montreal Jazz Festival. McFerrin is known for using his fluid voice and body as instrument, making many levels of sound and beat simultaneously. Bona is a Cameroon-born guitarist and musician. At the beginning, you can see and hear the two musicians feeling each other out, listening to each other closely and a bit tentatively; gradually they find a groove, playing off each other and taking ideas in various directions to make a wonderful piece of music. It’s a fine example of the way collaboration works: one person has an idea that makes the other person imagine something, and that idea inspires the other, and they move back and forth building and weaving their ideas together (leaving some behind as they go), to create something unique.

If you open a new web page or tab, you can listen to it as background music while you surf or explore other things.

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One thought on “music for monday: bobby mcferrin improvises with richard bono

  1. Great recommendation — that’s exactly what I’ll do as I open new pages. You’ve described so perfectly the way McFerrin’s voice is practically an entity unto itself.

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