Back in 1994 or thereabouts, it was my pleasure to spend a few weeks recording and mixing the Bobby McFerrin album Bang! Zoom!. The album, a collaboration with the band the Yellowjackets, has remained one of my favorites — not only because of the high quality of the music, and the fun I had recording it, but also because it gave me a chance to get to know the extraordinarily gifted Mr. McFerrin, who is one of the most likable and intelligent people I have ever met in thirty years of record-making.
Bobby recently participated in a panel about music and neuroscience at the latest World Science Festival here in New York, and gave a unique and memorable demonstration of the affinity of the human brain for the pentatonic scale. Have a look here (fourth clip from the top, just below the dancing bird).
3 Comments
Malcolm, you’ve led a very interesting life, leaving me somewhat envious . . . not in the perncious sense of envy, of course.
Jeffery Hodges
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Why, thanks, Jeffery. Yours has hardly been ordinary or boring either, it seems to me.
The Five Colors blind the eye;
The Five Tones deafen the ear.
— one of my favorite insights from the Tao Te Ching.
I wish the video clip showed the ensuing discussion of the point McFerrin was trying to make. If I have time and energy, maybe I’ll sit and watch the complete video. Thanks for linking to this.
Kevin