Jazz Masters: Bobby McFerrin

Vocal virtuoso Bobby McFerrin ranks among the most distinctive and original singers in contemporary music — equally adept in jazz, pop, and classical settings, his octave-jumping trademark style, with its rhythmic inhalations and stop-on-a-dime shifts from falsetto to deep bass notes often sounds like the work of at least two or three singers at once, while at the same time sounding quite unlike anyone else. The son of husband-and-wife classical singers, McFerrin was born in New York City on...