Given Wonder's exhaustive body of work, one is prone to take for granted such breakthrough recordings as the funk 'n' rolling "Superstition" ('72), the R&Bjiving; "I Wish" ('76) and the reggae-bopping "Master Blaster (Jammin')," from 1980. In retrospect it's clear that when Wonder sang, "Music is a world within itself with a language that we all understand" on "Sir Duke," his '76 tribute to Duke Ellington, his kaleidoscopic, pancultural musical philosophy was already firmly in place. Listening to his wordless, soaring East-meets-West vocal gymnastics on "Love's in Need of Love Today," the circular gospel blues of "Higher Ground" or the nightmarish urban landscape depicted in "Village Ghetto Land," one hears an artistic wellspring from which such artists as Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men, Arrested Development and Coolio have all drawn sustenance and inspiration.
If one were forced to pick a solitary track here to represent what Wonder is all about, it would be "Ribbon in the Sky," originally recorded in 1982. The song begins as a straightforward pop ballad with just voice and piano, glides smoothly into a jazz-tinged instrumental break in which Wonder trades harmonica riffs with his sax player and ends up swinging over a churning Latin beat. Such is the seamless, eclectic genius of Stevie Wonder.
(Posted: Jan 25, 1996)
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- Dancing To The Rhythm
- Love's In Need Of Love Today
- Master Blaster (Jammin')
- Stevie Ray Blues
- Higher Ground
- Rocket Love
- Stay Gold
- Ribbon In The Sky
- Pastime Paradise
- If It's Magic
- Ms. & Mr. Little Ones
- Village Ghetto Land
- Tomorrow Robins Will Sing
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