Beyond Words is where Bobby finds the magic in music, and that is the title of his most recent recording (March 2002), the twelfth in a highly creative journey that has already brought him 10 Grammy Awards. The album was marketed jointly by the legendary jazz label Blue Note and revered classical imprint Angel Records. McFerrin was signed to the sister labels under the Jazz & Classics umbrella of Capitol Records in early 2001 and both are a natural home for the performer whose creative energy flows freely through the worlds of jazz, classical, pop, choral, a capella, and world music.

Circlesongs is the result of Bobby's solo and group vocal explorations that have evolved into his own version of chant and sacred music. Created with twelve highly accomplished singers from vocal disciplines as diverse as classical to jazz to musical theater, it is steeped in an oral tradition that summons the ancient magic of tribal gatherings. For Bobby, "One of the simplest and most direct ways of praying and meditating is through singing and singing in community is exceptionally powerful."

Circlesongs are very special to Bobby. Under his creative guidance he leads his group in completely improvised music performance; every moment is free of preconceptions and is created anew.

Recorded in 1995, Bang!Zoom features Bobby in a number of different collaborations including the members of jazz fusion group The Yellow Jackets.

Billboard Magazine: "Bobby McFerrin outdoes himself with this collaboration with the Yellowjackets. These tunes showcase the fluid melodicism of the contemporary jazz outfit and McFerrin's incomparable vocal improvisations."

The San Francisco Chronicle writes: "Only an artist with Bobby McFerrin's extraordinary vocal gifts and imagination could pull off a pastiche like this pleasing concoction. He overdubbed his voice to create a shifting web of harmonies, counterparts, and choirs. He sings joyous, wordless, African-based songs - filled with dancing melodies and shimmering textures"

Released in 1995, Paper Music was Bobby's first classical album, and featured him both conducting and singing with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra to fascinating and beautiful results. The same voice that climbed the pop charts, redefined vocal jazz, and invented an entirely new a capella vocabulary is equally at home replacing a cello in a Vivaldi Concerto, or singing Faure's haunting melodies.

Bobby was appointed Creative Chair of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1994, and this album beautifully marked the beginning of his second career as an orchestral conductor.

Hush is the result of a deep friendship between Bobby and renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, which developed from a meeting between the two at the late Leonard Bernstein's 70th birthday in the summer of 1988 at Tanglewood. The intriguing collaboration -- solely involving the two leading artists -- features 13 tracks, including five McFerrin original compositions alongside such classical pieces as Rachmaninoff's 'Vocalise', J.S. Bach's 'Air' from Orchestral Suite No. 3, and Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumblebee.'

Bobby and Chick Corea banded together to record 'Play', an ebullient romp of jazz standards, improvisations, and generally good-natured audio hijinx, for Blue Note Records. The album was recorded in 1992 before enthusiastic audiences at New York's Carnegie Hall and Washington DC's Wolf Trap Amphitheater, and was a dazzling display of a musical friendship's spontaneity.

Recorded in 1989, "Medicine Music" features Bobby skills as an orchestrator as well as a vocalist in music ranging from latin to gospel to spiritual. The album features his vocal ensemble Voicestra on two tracks, as well his father, baritone Robert McFerrin, Sr. (who was the first Afro-American singer ever to appear on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera).

The album features "Common Threads" the song featured on the AIDS documentary of the same name (and which won Bobby an Emmy for Best Original Score), as well as "23rd Psalm" a beautiful arrangement of religious choral music.

Although 'Simple Pleasures' was Bobby's fourth album, many consider it his breakout effort, as it featured the mega hit "Don't Worry Be Happy" (which incidentally was composed and recorded in the last minute). Unknown to many, the album only features Bobby's voice, albeit with much overdubbing.

'Simple Pleasures' went on to win 3 Grammy Awards in 1988 - Record of the Year, Song of the Year ("Don't Worry"), and Best Pop Vocal, and topped the Billboards in the US, Europe, and Asia.

Bobby's follow up to his first album, 'The Voice', 'Spontaneous Inventions' features Bobby alone and with special guests including Herbie Hancock, Jon Hendricks, Manhattan Transfer, Wayne Shorter, and the comedian Robin Williams.

The song "Another Night in Tunisia" won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal and Best Vocal Arrangement.

After touring with his own band and collaborating with such jazz artists as Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin took a major and unprecedented step in 1983 when he began to offer solo, unaccompanied vocal concerts. This led to a solo tour of Germany, much of which can be heard on his second release, 'The Voice'.

'The Voice' was a milestone in jazz history; it was the first time a jazz singer had recorded an entire album solo, without accompaniment or overdubbing, for a major label. Bobby McFerrin's amazing ability to switch back and forth between bass notes and falsetto, along with his talent for jumping octaves, made this record quite a virtuoso showcase.

'Bobby McFerrin' was Bobby's debut recording. The remarkable singer is at his best on the unaccompanied "Hallucinations" and in a duet with drummer H.B. Bennett on "All Feets Can Dance"; also quite worthwhile are his versions of "Dance With Me" and "Moondance." Most of the diverse selections find McFerrin joined by a rhythm section led by pianist Victor Feldman. Phoebe Snow shares the vocal mike with McFerrin on "You've Really Got a Hold on Me."