Bobby McFerrin

Join us as Bobby McFerrin and his band celebrate the transcendence of the American spirit with joyful new takes on familiar tunes in "Spirit You All." Jefferson Center welcomes the genius, dexterity, and playful spirit of McFerrin to Shaftman Performance Hall for a festive exploration of the human voice. With generosity and wit, McFerrin leads his audience to become part of the act as he creates a new vocabulary of music—combining bebop with pop, an operatic soprano with the caw of a bird. McFerrin pushes the boundaries of creative improvisation in a dazzling performance that sparks wonder and joy.

“There is something almost superhuman about the range and technique of Bobby McFerrin,” says Newsweek.  But 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 McFerrin’s art.

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.  McFerrin continues to explore the musical universe, known and unknown. Drawing on all genres, demonstrating matchless improvisational skills, he never fails to dazzle. He never seems to run out of new ideas, and he loves having no clue what’s going to happen next. Ask him where he went to school, and he just might tell you that he is a graduate of MSU: Making Stuff Up.

“Music for me,” McFerrin says, “is like a spiritual journey down into the depths of my soul. And I like to think we’re all on a journey into our souls. What’s down there? That’s why I do what I do.”