Circlesongs
Studio album by
Bobby McFerrin
ReleasedApril 1, 1997
StudioThe Hit Factory (New York, NY)
GenreVocal jazz
Length42:29
LabelSony Classical
ProducerLinda Goldstein
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Circlesongs is a 1997 studio album by American vocalist Bobby McFerrin, released by Sony Classical.

In 2018, McFerrin toured with his ensemble the Voicestra, performing material from Circlesongs, as well as improvisational works with audience improvisation encouraged.[2]

The music on the album is performed by "circle singing", an improvisational technique created by McFerrin in 1986.[3] In circle singing, a leader in a circle of singers directs one sub-group in the circle to sing an improvised musical part, and then the leader improvises another part for another sub-group to sing overlayed onto the first part, and so on until the whole circle is singing different improvised parts. The song evolves as the leader changes the improvisation for different groups.[4]

Track listing

  1. "Circlesong One" - 6:10
  2. "Circlesong Two" - 4:11
  3. "Circlesong Three" - 4:40
  4. "Circlesong Four" - 4:27
  5. "Circlesong Five" - 5:27
  6. "Circlesong Six" - 7:50
  7. "Circlesong Seven" - 4:57
  8. "Circlesong Eight" - 4:47

Personnel

  • Bobby McFerrin – vocals, vocal leader
  • Voicetra (Nicolas Bearde, Joey Blake, Pierre Cook, Sussan Deyhim, Kirsten Falke, Paul Hillier, Raz Kennedy, Beth Quist, Rhiannon, Janis Siegel, Pamela Warrick Smith and David Worm) – vocal ensemble

Production

  • Linda Goldstein – producer
  • Chris Tergesen – engineer, mixing
  • Tony Black – assistant engineer
  • Greg Pinto – assistant engineer
  • Greg Thompson – assistant engineer
  • George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY)
  • Philip Rackin – production coordinator
  • Katie Steams – production coordinator
  • Kerstin Bach – package design
  • Gil Gilbert – photography
  • Nathalie Schüller – photography

References

  1. ↑ Circlesongs review, Allmusic
  2. ↑ What's it like to sing with Bobby McFerrin? 'Pure joy,' says Judi Vinar. MinnPost, June 13, 2018.
  3. ↑ Katharine Schwab (September 2, 2014). "Circle-singing leader embraces all voices". Seattle Times.
  4. ↑ Paola Munda (September 24, 2020). "Circle Singing: A Profile of Bobby McFerrin". casa.org. The Contemporary a Capella Society.
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