Photos by Andy Argyrakis

“We all graduated from MSU,” proclaimed a proud Bobby McFerrin when introducing his vocal ensemble Gimme5, comprised of Joey Blake, Dave Worm, Rhiannon and Judi Vinar (all cherry picked from his 1980s choir Voicestra). After a pause for the puzzled audience to guess the initials, he let the cat out of the bag as “making stuff up,” which was met with a hearty laugh by those who sold out the cozy City Winery for the earliest of a four engagements.

The brightest moments weren’t even songs at all, but when Bobby McFerrin called more than capable fans on stage or ventured into the crowd to find kids who enhanced his child-like playfulness and collectively made ordinary, free-flowing syllables sound utterly exceptional.

Not only did he assure everyone that no shows would be remotely the same all weekend, that’s actually been the case of every concert ever given by the 10-time Grammy winner. For about an hour-and-a-half, McFerrin & Gimme5 cued into their “Circlesongs” technique (also the title of an acclaimed album from the ‘90s), during which the leader and conductor didn’t just assign parts to his fellow performers, but got the audience in on the action.

Whether it was improvisational scatting in jazz settings, pop sensibilities, bursts of R&B, human beatboxing, classical considerations or world rhythms (all performed completely a cappella of course), it was always an adventure. Some of the results were downright glorious, other moments that didn’t land as tightly were humorous, but the sprit was always joyous, or as the title of McFerrin’s chart-topper from 1988’s mainstream breakthrough “Simple Pleasures” so cheerily suggests, reasons to “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

Surprisingly and disappointedly, that smash didn’t make the playlist, but rather than being an arrogant omission, most likely because it didn’t fit in the spontaneous flow that covered everything from the “My Fair Lady” showtune “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” to Jimmy Cliff’s “I Can See Clearly Now” to a medley of anything that started with the letter “s,” including the nursery rhyme “Star Light, Star Bright,” the standard “Skylark” and The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The brightest moments weren’t even songs at all, but when McFerrin called more than capable fans on stage or ventured into the crowd to find kids who enhanced his child-like playfulness and collectively made ordinary, free-flowing syllables sound utterly exceptional.

Click here for more photos of Bobby McFerrin at City Winery.

For additional information on Bobby McFerrin, visit BobbyMcFerrin.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at City Winery include Bobby McFerrin & Gimme 5 (Feb. 23); The Four C Notes (Feb. 24); Funkadesi (Feb. 24); Steve Earle (Feb. 25-26); Ann Hampton Callaway (Feb. 27); We Banjo 3 (Mar. 1); JD Souther & Karla Bonoff (Mar. 3); Aaron Neville (Mar. 4-5); The Ides Of March (Mar. 6); Kasim Sulton’s Utopia (Mar. 7);  Ron Pope (Mar. 8-9); Chicago Tap Theatre (Mar. 10); Luther Dickinson, Amy Helm & Birds Of Chicago (Mar. 11); The High Kings (Mar. 12-13); Q Parker (of 112) & Friends (Mar. 14); Eilen Jewell (Mar. 15); Los Lonely Boys (Mar. 16-17); Michael Smerconish (Mar. 17); Christopher Cross (Mar. 19-20); The Subdudes (Mar. 21-22); Hip Hop Yoga (Mar. 23); Idan Raichel (Mar. 23); Freddy Jones Band (Mar. 24); Eighth Blackbird (Mar. 25); Van Hunt (Mar. 26); The Tim O’Brien Band (Mar. 27); Robert Glasper Trio (Mar. 28); The Verve Pipe (Mar. 29) and Will Downing (Mar. 30-31). For additional details, visit CityWinery.com/Chicago.

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