Taylor McFerrin

A self-taught artist -- a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and vocalist -- Taylor McFerrin has combined left-field forms of electronic music, R&B, and jazz. The Brooklyn native made his full-length debut with the dreamlike, primarily instrumental set Early Riser (2014), and after participating in R+R=Now's Collagically Speaking (2018), he completed a second solo album, the equally mellow yet more emotive Love's Last Chance (2019). Along the way, McFerrin has made deep connections with Flying Lotus and Robert Glasper, among others. Taylor McFerrin's first recorded appearance was as a background singer on "Jubilee," a song off his father Bobby's self-titled 1982 debut album for Elektra. A couple decades later, the younger McFerrin started to make a name for himself. The musician debuted in 2006 with Broken Vibes, a broken beat-inspired EP pressed in a one-time vinyl edition of 900. He both co-produced and beatboxed on Ty's "What You Want (Taylormade)" the same year. In 2007, McFerrin's "Go with Love" appeared on the second volume of Brownswood Bubblers, the primary compilation series of BBC DJ Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings. McFerrin subsequently linked with Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label. The RYAT-fronted single "A Place in My Heart" arrived on Brainfeeder in 2011 and was included on Brownswood Bubblers Six. McFerrin was stockpiling a large quantity of unfinished recordings all the while. He eventually dusted off a small portion of the material and shaped it into a full-length, Early Riser, released on Brainfeeder in 2014. The album involved a number of collaborators, including Bobby McFerrin, Cesar Mariano, Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote's Nai Palm, and Robert Glasper. In return, McFerrin remixed Hiatus Kaiyote's "Laputa," and he joined Glasper's R+R=Now group. The swift recording process of R+R=Now's 2018 LP Collagically Speaking inspired McFerrin to put his perfectionism aside and take a similar approach with his in-the-works second album. The following year, he returned with Love's Last Chance, issued through From Here Entertainment. Whereas McFerrin's voice was rarely heard on Early Riser, Love's Last Chance featured it at the forefront throughout.
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