Taylor McFerrin

The music of Taylor McFerrin isn’t much like what you’ve heard from his dad Bobby, whose own catalog leans heavy into the vocal jazz and scat-driven spectrum, save for ’80s-era hit (and the reason you know him) “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Taylor maintains his dad’s style of effortless breeziness while exploring the realms of future-soul, post-jazz, and ambient R&B, with shades of hip-hop in the rhythms and funk in the bass lines. My turn-on was Taylor’s luscious, melody-pricked number with Robert Glasper and Thundercat, “Already There,” off 2014 debut Early Riser. He didn’t sing much then, but sophomore follow-up Love’s Last Chance, which dropped in August, reveals a casually elegant and velvety vocal that glides over classy, understated, but often ethereal grooves, the latter imbued via vintage (’70s-era) synths.