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Stevie Wonder
b. Steveland Judkins, 13 May 1950, Saginaw, Michigan, USA. Born Judkins, Wonder now prefers to be known as Steveland Morris after his mother's married name. Placed in an incubator immediately after his birth, baby Steveland was given too much oxygen, causing Steveland to suffer permanent blindness. Despite this handicap, Wonder began to learn the piano at the age of seven, and had also mastered drums and harmonica by the age of nine. After his family moved to Detroit in 1954, Steveland joined a church choir, the gospel influence on his music balanced by the R&B of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke being played on his transistor radio.
In 1961, he was discovered by Ronnie White of the Miracles, who arranged an audition at Motown Records. Berry Gordy immediately signed Steveland to the label, renaming him Little Stevie Wonder (the "Little" was dropped in 1964). Wonder was placed in the care of writer/producer Clarence Paul, who supervised his early recordings. These accentuated his prodigal talents as a multi-instrumentalist, but did not represent a clear musical direction. In 1963, however, the release of the ebullient live recording "Fingertips (Part 2)" established his commercial success, and Motown quickly marketed him on a series of albums as "the 12-year-old genius" in an attempt to link him with the popularity of "the genius", Ray Charles. Attempts to repeat the success of "Fingertips" proved abortive, and Wonder's career was placed on hold during 1964 while his voice was breaking. He re-emerged in 1965 with a sound that was much closer to the Motown mainstream, scoring a worldwide hit with the dance-orientated "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", which he co-wrote with Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy. This began a run of US Top 40 hits that continued unbroken (apart from seasonal Christmas releases) for over six years.
From 1965-70, Stevie Wonder was marketed like the other major Motown stars, recording material that was chosen for him by the label's executives, and issuing albums that mixed conventional soul compositions with pop standards. His strong humanitarian principles were allowed expression on his version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind" and Ron Miller's "A Place In The Sun" in 1966. He co-wrote almost all of his singles from 1967 onwards, and also began to collaborate on releases by other Motown artists, most notably co-writing Smokey Robinson And The Miracles' hit "The Tears Of A Clown", and writing and producing the (Detroit) Spinners' "It's A Shame".
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by Ludovico Granvassu
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Continue ReadingSir Stevie: Jammin' on Stevie Wonder - Part 3
by Ludovico Granvassu
There's so much amazing material penned by Stevie Wonder, so here we go again with the third part of our birthday special. After a dive in renditions from the '70s during part one and two, here we mix things up with a combination of contemporary stunners, like the unique take of Alicia Hall Moran on Signed, Sealed, Delivered" or the incandescent rendition of Too High" by Chris Hunter, with classics like Roland Kirk's version of Ma Cherie Amour" or Toots ...
Continue ReadingSir Stevie: Jammin' on Stevie Wonder - Part 2
by Ludovico Granvassu
Stevie Wonder has often infused his performances with compelling renditions of jazz standards like Miles' All Blues" or Coltrane's Giant Steps." In return, countless jazz musicians have looked into his Songbook for compositions that would provide them with a fertile ground for their own explorations. In the second part of our Stevie @70" special we cherry-picked tributes to his genius by the likes of Ran Blake, Cassandra Wilson, Gene Harris, Jamie Saft and many more, and a ...
Continue ReadingSir Stevie: Jammin' on Stevie Wonder - Part 1
by Ludovico Granvassu
Stevie Wonder has more entries in the Real Book than any other pop musician, The Beatles included. It is not surprising therefore that his Songbook has been mined by hundreds of jazz musicians, including the likes of Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Dexter Gordon or Herbie Hancock. To mark the 70th birthday of Stevie Wonder this week we will feature some of the best jazz renditions of his compositions. In this segment we focus, in particular, on ...
Continue ReadingStevie Wonder at Pepsi Center
by Geoff Anderson
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Continue ReadingStevie Wonder Was the Headliner Saturday at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee.
Source:
Michael Ricci
The aspirations and survival tactics of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, the annual four-day marathon of musical overload and muddy shoes, were neatly summed up in its headliners this year: a jam band, current hitmakers and a longtime pop giant. They balanced Bonnaroo's neo-hippie aura with attention to the present.
The headliner on Saturday was Stevie Wonder, an older generation's ubiquitous pop songwriter, master musician and preacher of positive thoughts. His jubilant, playful yet focused set leaped from hit ...
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Source:
Michael Ricci
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Stevie Wonder breathless over French award
Source:
All About Jazz
PARIS - It's taken nearly 30 years, but Stevie Wonder has finally received his medal for being named into France's prestigious National Order of Arts and Letters. The Motown great was in the French capital to perform and be honored at France's biggest musical awards show Saturday. Wonder said: All this in one day, it's almost too much for me. I'm breathless." Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand riffed off several of the pop star's hits at a Paris ceremony. I just ...
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Source:
Michael Ricci
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Stevie Wonder Ignites Montreal Jazz Festival
Source:
All About Jazz
Stevie Wonder Ignites Montreal Jazz Festival With Classic Grooves, Salutes to Michael Jackson
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I ...
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Stevie Wonder Opens the Place Des Festivals with a Concert Inaugurating the 30th Edition of the Festival
Source:
Michael Ricci
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Obamas Honor Stevie Wonder at White House
Source:
All About Jazz
Singer-songwriter is praised for creating ‘a style that’s uniquely American’ Legendary entertainer Stevie Wonder got a presidential welcome from the Obamas, who honored him with the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday thanked musician Stevie Wonder for creating “a style that’s uniquely American” as he presented the singer- songwriter the nation’s highest award for pop music.
Obama, who called Wonder the soundtrack of his youth, gave the star the Library of ...
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White House Line-up for Stevie Wonder "Gershwin Prize" PBS Special
Source:
All About Jazz
PBS STATIONS TO BROADCAST STEVIE WONDER IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE FOR LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GERSHWIN PRIZE
Stevie Wonder In Performance at the White House: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize will showcase an evening of celebration with President and Mrs. Obama at the White House in honor of musician Stevie Wonder's receipt of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The sixty-minute program, to be taped by WETA Washington, DC, airs Thursday, February 26, 2009, at ...
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President Obama Presents Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to Stevie Wonder
Source:
All About Jazz
STEVIE WONDER RECEIVES GERSHWIN PRIZE FOR POPULAR SONG PRESIDENT OBAMA TO PRESENT PRIZE FEBRUARY 25 Wonder Performs Commissioned Piece for Library of Congress on February 23 Washington DC, February 16, 2009 - President Barack Obama will give the Second Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to Stevie Wonder on Feb. 25 at a special concert in the East Room of the White House in celebration of African American History Month. The program, to be taped by WETA Washington, ...
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White House Plans Concert to Honor Stevie Wonder
Source:
All About Jazz
The White House is planning a concert this month to honor Stevie Wonder, whose music provided part of President Obama's campaign soundtrack.
The White House says the president and first lady Michelle Obama will present Wonder with a Library of Congress award on Feb. 25. The concert will be broadcast the next day on PBS as part of its Performance at the White House series.
The award-winning and chart-topping Wonder performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on the ...
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