We open the week with hard blowing tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, continue with the warm sounds of Sona Jobarteh, and conclude with our third Stevie Wonder covers Mixtape featuring Trijntje Oosterhuis, Stephane Belmondo, Mary Mary, Michael Jackson, Will Downing, Bob Baldwin, Maysa, Yahzarah, Nancy Wilson, Boyz II Men, Leny Andrade, Matt Lemmler, Stephanie Renee, and of course the maestro himself, Stevie Wonder.
When trying to rank Stevie Wonder as a composer, most of us place him in the top tier, and some of us argue that he is the greatest ever American composer of popular music. Without re-hasing any arguments pro and con for the all-time greatest designation, let me point to what I think is the clincher: unlike Ellington, Gershwin, Bacharach or whomever else one might proffer as worthy of the number one distinction, Stevie Wonder is both a musical composer and lyricist.
None of Stevie’s worthy rivals matches him at writing both music and lyrics. Indeed, some critics even think writing music and lyrics require two different kinds of talents. Regardless, the major issue is that no musician who is both a composer and lyricist has written as many pieces of influential songs as Stevie Wonder. We often take this achievement for granted, but if you stop and think about it, creatively and consistently composing both music and lyrics is an astounding achievement.
—kalamu ya salaam