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THERE’S been a lot of talk about Mr. Wonder lately, largely because of the recent concerts. It reminds me of what may be my favorite Stevie song, from a record my parents had when I was a kid and which I pretty much wore out.
Cool that he is tipping his hat to another piano player.
I’ve only seen Stevie play once, at the 80th birthday party for jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
“Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.”
One of the greats of the Motown pantheon. So interesting, all those unisons in the instrumental crew with that distinctive Motown rhythm. How to describe it? The evolution of a kind of rock influenced swing?
Mickey Thomas of the Jefferson Airplane (Starship) seemed to learn so much from Stevie. Thomas’ song “Sarah” almost sounds as if Stevie is singing it – even a Stevie style harmonica solo. (Who played the harmonica in that recording?)
In the video link you give, I think Stevie maybe wasn’t actually playing the keyboard in front of him. It’s hard to say because his hands are only shown briefly. I noticed that there is another keyboard player far off to the side in the video. He appears for exactly one second at 2:07. Hardly matters, just a curiosity. It’s great music.
Yeah, very fresh blend of R&B, rock and a vaguely Ellingtonian horn section…