Son of famed vocalist shapes his own sound
When Taylor McFerrin was presented the opportunity to study music at UC Berkeley, he had a gut feeling the school wanted two McFerrins for the admission of one.
“I think (Berkeley) wanted my dad to be a teacher,” says 35-year-old McFerrin, the eldest son of the famed “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” musician and jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin. “That did bug me out, but at the same time, I was completely untrained as a musician. I didn’t know any theory to go to music school.”
He ended up turning down Berkeley’s offer, but the lack of formal training didn’t prevent the younger McFerrin from pursuing his own style. Years of attending his father’s shows led him to believe improvisation and jam sessions were how music was taught, learned and created.
“I gained my own sound and vibe by just trying to learn
things on my own,” he says. “Sometimes a lot of the keyboard players I session with think I’m doing these interesting chords, but I’m more playing based on my interpretation of how I’m supposed to be playing.”
McFerrin released his breakthrough record “Early Riser” three years ago, a collection of electronic soul weaving elements of hip-hop, R&B, beatbox and voice into vast, ethereal soundscapes reminiscent of the jazz fusion era. This weekend, McFerrin brings his polyrhythmic music — and prized collection of vintage Fender Rhodes and analog synthesizers — to SFJazz Center for two shows each on Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26, performing music from “Early Riser” and new material scheduled for release later this year.
He’ll be joined by drummer Marcus Gilmore, the grandson of jazz legend Roy Haynes and a regular performer with fusion pianist Chick Corea, whom he tapped for the 2014 album.
McFerrin originally wanted to become a hiphop producer, so he made beats on a sampler and his father’s hand-me-down keyboard while he was in high school in Minneapolis. He also played in a jazz band with student musicians he met while attending the New School’s Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts in Manhattan, and though he wasn’t enrolled in the university’s renowned jazz program, McFerrin joined as the go-to guy for anything keys, synths, effects and beatboxing.
In 2006, he debuted “Broken Vibes,” his first release as a solo act. Influenced by sample-heavy producers J Dilla and Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest and spirited by his parents’ 1960s and ’70s soul, funk and jazz record collection, McFerrin bridged his beats with the genres he heard throughout his adolescence.
“I think sonically is where I feel tied to the jazz legacy,” he says. “I feel I can push boundaries in that based on sound design.”
His evocative and soulful aesthetic caught the attention of Stephen Ellison, better known as electronic music producer Flying Lotus. The two had originally connected over MySpace when Ellison was becoming a rising star in the late 2000s Los Angeles beat scene. Ellison invited McFerrin to release “Early Riser” under his record label Brainfeeder after hearing a three-track sampler in 2010. But finishing the record took four years, as McFerrin entered a cycle of creating demos then shelving them for a few years before revisiting and finalizing them in 2013.
“I took the whole entirety of the work I’d made over the years and just narrowed it down to what felt like it could work together as a single concept,” McFerrin says.
In one track, “The Antidote,” a bass line lays the groundwork for an overlay of chirps before being washed over with waves of hi-hats, synths, shakers, snaps and snares. Hiatus Kaiyote frontwoman Nai Palm adds vocals to the billowing wall of sound, right before the layers peel back and a deep groove carries the song to its finish.
On “Florasia,” McFerrin lends his own voice to the song, distorting it to blend in with the instrumental layers. He said he wants to sing more on his next record, partly as a challenge but also to make it more personal.
“(Singing) was never my lead talent,” he says, “but it just felt like the step I needed to make in order to push this record to a new level for me.”
Since “Early Riser,” McFerrin has helped produce music for his sister, singer Madison McFerrin, and for indie artist Nick Hakim. Now, the main focus for his own work is to refine his musical approach and be “more direct in song structure, more definitive in ideas.”
McFerrin also hopes to push more sonic boundaries and elevate his sound, which is why he has asked Gilmore to join him on the new record. (“I envision playing with Marcus my whole life if that’s possible,” McFerrin says.) He particularly praises Gilmore’s ability to play in the same improv space he thrives in.
“When we play together, the beat is the foundation, and that lets you be more savvy,” says Gilmore. “There’s room for things to happen that may have never happened before. It’s more spontaneous.”
Having Gilmore to bounce ideas off of in the studio, plus occupying a new space in Los Angeles that he shares with Grammy-nominated artist Anderson .Paak and Mike Dean, one of the producers on Frank Ocean’s “Blonde,” McFerrin says the rest of 2017 is “100 percent album mode.”
“I’m feeling the final push and motivation to get the record done in the next few months,” he says. “I’m at the point now where my career needs its next official statement.”