Customer Reviews

Spontaneous Inventions

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have to get only one Bobby McFerrin album, this is the one. The later _Simple Pleasures_ is slicker, more commercial, and better suited to a wider audience, but this disc showcases his vocal talents at their truest and best. Most of the cuts are live and unaccompanied, though there are three duets and a smashing rendition of "Another Night in Tunisia" with Manhattan Transfer (at least according to Amazon; on my original cassettes, that cut is on the _Simple Pleasures_ album).

Duets with Herbie Hancock on piano and Wayne Shorter on soprano sax ("Turtle Shoes" and "Walkin' " respectively) are fine. The collaboration with Robin Williams, "Beverly Hills Blues," is just plain fun, as is the playful throwaway "Manana Iguana" (how did that ever make it onto the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" best-of collection?). McFerrin does another excellent cover of a Beatles tune whose pallid original would seem to have made it a poor choice, "From Me to You."

But for me, the best cuts on this disc are the utterly infectious "Thinkin' About Your Body"; the sharp, bluesy rendition of Joan Armatrading's "Opportunity"; and "I Hear Music," the best McFerrin/audience collaboration on record (although I've heard and participated in much better examples, alas).

Get this one for its musical artistry and sheer joy of life.

When listening to this recording, you get the distinct understanding that there is nothing Bobby McFerrin would rather be doing that exactly what he is doing: amazing things with his voice that just tickle audiences. A few of the tracks here are live recordings, and a few are accompanied by another musician -- well, Robin Williams doesn't count as a musician, but "Beverly Hills Blues" is probably the most fun track here. It sounds like they were just making it up as they went along.

As someone with "professional training" in singing, I am astounded at the things he does with his voice.

Sigh, I long for the early days of Bobby McFerrin and this album reiterates that opinion for me. This is an unbelieveably beautiful, innovative, humorous, creative and unique little album that introduced Bobby to the world. This man who has the unusual talent/ability to sing two (count them, TWO) notes at one time, mimic virtually every musical instrument known, impersonate other famous singers, and come up with wonderfully catchy and innovative covers of well-known songs does not fail us on this CD!

"Thinkin' About Your Body" kicks it all off. The whole time I listened to the song I tried to figure out how he could possibly provide not only all of the instrumentation using only his voice and body, as well as all of the vocalizations! It sounded like there were 20 Bobbys up there on stage and not just one! Amazing! The rest of the album featured the brilliant Bobby and some special guests who "dropped in." "Another Night in Tunisia" features The Manhatten Transfer. The hysterical "Beverly Hills Blues" features the wonderful Robin Williams. Check this wonderful, melodious album out. There is something for everybody, and it is lives up to its "Spontaneous" title.

From start to finish, this is Bobby McFerrin's finest release of the eighties! From the first track, "Thinkin' About Your Body", with its simple lyrics and wooderful tune, to the catchy closing track "Mañana Iguana", this album shows off Bobby's unmatched vocal (and other) talents. Besides playing with guest musicians on a few tracks ("Turtle Shoes" with Herbie Hancock, "Another Night In Tunisia" with Manhattan Transfer, "Walkin" with Wayne Shorter, and in an amusing appearance, Robin Williams in "Beverly Hills Blues), there's a cover of The Beatles "From Me To You" that even Beatles fans will like. If you're not a Bobby McFerrin fan, after the purchase of this album you will be!

As time goes on, it becomes ever apparent that Bobby McFerrin was the best young jazz singer of the past 20 years; and classical music's gain is the jazz world's loss. My personal favorite of Mr. McFerrin's portfolio is "Medicine Music"; but for pure "chops", this is his "piece d'resistance." The thing that amazes me about him as a singer is that he must have about a 4 octave range; and it sounds like that's the case because he figured out how to free the restrictions brought on by his larynx. "From Me to You" sticks out in memory, as does his impromptu riff with Robin Williams on "Beverly Hills Blues." Highly recommended, not so much for the end product, but for the parts that make up the whole.

When you listen to this recording, you forget that all were not done with overdubs, like some of his other albums. McFerrin has an incredible gift for producing harmonies and rythms with every part of his body. As a vocalist myself, I appreciate the incredible level of control he has over his vocal chords (as well as various other parts of his body). On top of it all, as the album title 'Spontaneous Inventions' implies, most of the tracks were improvised, in many cases live on stage. The results are often funny, often strange, often poetic, but never, ever boring.

Ironically, one of my favorite tracks is 'Night in Tunesia' performed with the Manhattan Transfer--probably the least improvised of all of the tracks. Excellent performances all around of this jazz classic. This album is well worth the grammy it won, I believe it was for best jazz recording.

I bought this when I was in high school when it originally was released (in 1986), and I still listen to it to this day. One of the most spectacular examples of vocal prowess and virtuosity from any genre. It's still difficult to believe that one man is singing all those notes! And the collaborations with Robin Williams, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock are a lot of fun. The Manhattan Transfer joins Bobby on the one studio-produced track (which also appeared on a Manhattan Transfer album around the same time), and it's slick. Highly recommended!

I was chokin' to death when I heard this which I checked off from a library near Fulton County 'cross Roswell GA. It has a full blast and has amazing songs in it that I loved from: Turtle Shoes, Talkin' Thru My Body, Walkin, Beverly Hills Blues, Another Night in Tunisha, etc.

This is sumthin I gotta have if I luv the man and 'specially fans to George Benson, Miles Davis, The Temptations, Herbie Hancock, Kanye West, The Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, among others especially my main man and inspiration Mr. Quincy Jones.

Paradoxically to its name, "Spontaneous" turns out to be a very small mix (39 mn) of 11 ADD re-edited past songs, with minimalist packaging(simple cover with just undated track names & two-sided same picture). Initially vocals published by BLUE NOTE (Capitol Records), then Atlantic Records (#81266-1) and finally WEA for export, with special guests : The Manhattan Transferts' choir for "Another night in Tunisia", Wayne Shorter's saxophone for "Walkin'", and Herbie Hancock's piano for "Turtle Shoes"!.
Therefore everyone having already quite some records of B McFerrin will face the risk of unecessary doubles on cheap record!
Otherwise, this tiny CD can represent an 'appetizer' in McFerrin's discography to the novice. (I've rated 2 stars to counter-rate the too generous average 5 star given)

Original Amazon.fr review :
Attention, il s'agit d'une petite compilation de 39 mn d'enregistrements en ADD, au packaging minimaliste (simple jaquette avec titres des morceaux non datés et photo recto-verso), reprenant 11 morceaux de vocalises initialement publiés par BLUE NOTE (Capitol Records), puis Atlantic Records (#81266-1) et chez WEA pour l'export. Donc pour ceux possédant déjà une discographie de Bobby McFerrin, risque évident de doublons! Sinon, ce Cd peut représenter un premier achat de cet interprète atypique réputé pour apprécier à la fois l'étendue de son chant, de sa basse vocale et percussions stomacales qu'il orchestre avec maestria jazzy.
Quant aux interprètes affichés par Amazon pour ce disque, il ne s'agit que de 'special guests' pour un titre seulement; comme le choeur des Manhattan Transferts pour "Another night in Tunisia", le saxophone de Wayne Shorter pour "Walkin'", ou le piano d'Herbie Hancock pour "Turtle Shoes"!