Bobby McFerrin

"Don't Worry Be Happy" is the title of a song that brought fame to Bobby McFerrin. It's Reggae style seemed to be perfect for the black jazz singer who sports Rastafarian dreadlocks. This was ten years ago, however, and since then, Bobby McFerrin has completely reinvented his career as a musician. He switched from jazz to classical music and took up conducting. Orchestras welcomed him with open arms -- for the past three years, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has hired him on a regular basis, and even orchestras as famous as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, or the Munich Radio Orchestra have invited him as a guest conductor. With his background as a successful jazz singer, he must have had an exotic appeal, but that's not the only explanation for his smooth entry into the classical world. Bobby McFerrin has also a solid classical education to show for. In his new CD, however, he is turning away from classical music for the first time in years. Georg Hirsch reports.

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