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Bobby McFerrin, as many of you know, has been a tremendous inspiration to me and my style of singing. I'd organically developed a natural vocal style somewhat related to his in my teens, but upon my introduction to a wider range of his work it gave me a sense of permission to delve deeper into that and express it more fully.

When I was around the age of 16, I went to see him in concert, and there was a moment where he invited audience members to go up and sing with him. I was hesitant, but my mom encouraged me, so I did. What a presence I felt I was sitting next to, just a crazy feeling. I started beatboxing and he sang alongside me, and at a point he decided to give me the spotlight, which was totally unexpected as I thought we were done singing, and it overwhelmed me and I dropped the ball.

That hurt. It felt like he saw something in me that I wasn't ready to embrace in that moment. And while I was mad at myself, it meant a lot to me that he gave me that acknowledgment. That will live on with me forever.

And so 16 years later, here I am, singing "next to him" again, but this time having more fully embraced my own style and approach, in a venue that's come to feel like home to me.

This video is from his 'Sing! Day of Song' improvisation:
[ Ссылка ]

I find it to be a beautiful expression of what he does; the live exploration and discovery of melodic potential through exposing himself openly to the chaos of whatever the moment may bring in the presence of countless open ears. I'm pretty sure that a lot of my favorite melodies I've heard from him happened in person at his concert through a moment just like this, that I doubt I'll ever hear again.

I think we could all learn a lot from that act. The willingness to be exposed to the chaos without having a clue where you're going, just following and responding to your intuition and the life around you.

I hope you enjoy this one, I put a lot of intention into it 🙏💙

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