Musician Taylor McFerrin has been dazzling audiences with his unique sound ever since he started producing music as a teenager. With his latest studio album, ‘Love’s Last Chance’, McFerrin is putting his heart squarely on the line, focusing on love, relationships and all those two things entail. “Sometimes, with both your art and your relationships, you realize it’s now or never, “ he says. “For my first time writing and singing my own lyrics, I didn’t want to be messing around with make-believe and fantasy. This record is real life.” With the album delivering fully on the promise of his earlier releases, 2019 looks set to be the year McFerrin graduates to a bona fide star. Read on to discover more.
1. He’s the eldest son of Bobby McFerrin
Given who his dad is, it was perhaps inevitable that McFerrin would enter the music biz. McFerrin senior is none other than Bobby McFerrin, the ten-time Grammy Award winner renewed for his unique vocal style that manages to switch between modal and falsetto registers effortlessly. McFerrin’s musical accomplishments have received significant praise throughout his career, and in 2018, he was awarded the ultimate accolade of a “Lifetime Achievement” honor at the A Cappella Music Awards.
2. His grandfather was the first African-American to sing at the Metropolitan Opera
It’s not only his father who can claim a place in music history. McFerrin’s grandfather is Robert McFerrin, a legendary operatic baritone who holds the distinction of being the first African-American to sing at both the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the New York City Opera. He can also claim the honor of being the first black man to win the Metropolitan Opera’s “Auditions of the Air”. His legacy has lived on through his son, who has often cited him as one of his biggest influences. “His work influenced everything I do musically,” Bobby told the AP; “When I direct a choir, I go for his sound. His musical influence was absolutely profound. I cannot do anything without me hearing his voice.”
3. His early music was a form of rebellion
Growing up with a father who’s famous the world over for his vocal abilities proved to be something of a burden for the young McFerrin. Rather than try to emulate his father’s style, he decided to rebel against it by producing music that focused on the instrumentals, rather than the vocals. “Making beats in your bedroom, hip-hop stuff, when I was young, felt like about the most opposite thing I could do to my Dad,” he told NPR.
4. He collaborated with his father on his debut LP
McFerrin may have spent his teenage years treading a very different musical path to his father, but by the time his debut album, Early Riser, was released in 2014, he had learned a greater appreciation of his dad’s style- so much so, in fact, he invited Bobby to collaborate with him on one of its key tracks, Invisible/Visible.
5. His first release was in 2006
McFerrin’s debut may not have come until 2014, but his first steps as a solo recording artist came in 2006 with Broken Vibes, a vinyl EP pressed in a one-time edition of 900. Despite its limited audience, the record managed to impress in all the right quarters, with BBC DJ and label head Gilles Peterson selecting one of its tracks, “Go with Love”, for inclusion on the compilation album Brownswood Bubblers Two.
6. His new album will showcase his vocals
Ever since he started producing music, McFerrin has been reticent about providing his own vocals to his tracks. 2019 sees an end to the reluctance, as demonstrated on his latest album, Love’s Last Chance. For the first time, McFerrin will be stepping up to the mic and showing the world his dad isn’t the only one who can carry a tune. That said, he’s keen to avoid any kind of comparison. “My vocals on this record, this is like the first time I really tried singing and stuff, so I’m not trying to come out competing with [my father] vocally at all,” he told Boise State Public Radio.
7. His first performance was in 1982
McFerrin may not have released a track under his own name until 2006’s Broken Vibes, but his first appearance on record can be traced all the way back to 1982. By virtue of being the lead singer’s son, McFerrin got the opportunity to appear on one of the most critically acclaimed records of the 1980s, Bobby McFerrin’s eponymous 1982 debut. Listen hard enough to the 8th track of the album, Jubilee, and you should just about be able to hear McFerrin’s vocals in the background.
8. He’s part of R+R NOW
If you know music, you’ll know the names Robert Glasper and Terrace Martin, two leading lights of the industry who’ve contributed to the success of everyone from Quincy Jones and Kendrick Lamar to Kanye West and Mos Def. In 2017, Martin and Glasper teamed up with McFerrin, trumpeter Christian Scott, bassist Derrick Hodge, and drummer Justin Tyson to form the supergroup, R+R NOW. In addition to their many live performances, the group released their debut album with Blue Note, Collagically Speaking, in June 2018.
9. He was a music instructor for the blind
Prior to turning himself over fulltime to his own musical ventures, McFerrin was helping others get the most out of the medium through his work as a music instructor at the Bronx’s Lavelle School for the Blind. Along with fellow beatboxer Chesney Snow, McFerrin taught the kids how to create drum beats and other musical sounds using the voices, mouths, lips, and tongues.
10. He’s collaborated with some big names
Bobby McFerrin isn’t the only big-name McFerrin has managed to work with over the past few years. On his debut, Early Riser, he managed to draw in the talents of names such as Nai Palm (Hiatus Kaiyote), Thundercat, Robert Glasper, Cesar Mariano, and Marcus Gilmore. In other projects, he’s collaborated with the likes of Amp Fiddler, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ty, Jason the Angrynotes, Joy Jones, TK Wonder, José James, Dego, RAHJ, and Brockett Parsons.
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