Stevie Wonder, now in his impossible 60th year of a legendary career, returned to Madison Square Garden last night with a huge orchestra and a big smile on his face.
Only Stevie — blind since birth and now 73 years young — makes genius look so easy. He is one of a kind, something well beyond a superstar. Over two hours and twenty minutes, he knocked out 28 hits and could have easily doubled that.
Stevie’s catalog is one thing as it stretches from the early 60s with songs like “My Cherie Amour” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” through this landmark albums of the 70s with “Isn’t She Lovely,” “Sir Duke,” “Master Blaster Jammin,” and so on. There is no filler. It’s kind of remarkable because his unique blend of R&B, jazz, big band, pop just pours out of his head. And we are lucky for it.
The theme of this 11 date tour is “Sing Your Song: As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart.” The show begins with Stevie, flanked his daughter Aisha (who sings back up with him), speaking to the audience about peace, love and the power of change. He sings a new song, “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Heart,” and then launches into a cavalcade of brilliantly composed pieces that have stood the test of time.
There are also stories, lots of them, because Stevie Wonder is funny. For a man who can’t see his audience, he’s more engaged with them than most performers. He introduces “For Once In My Life” invoking Tony Bennett, who sang it originally, and plays “Chapel of Love” for a couple in the audience who’ve just gotten engaged. (“That costs $100,000,” he jokes. “It’s all about the money!”)
Stevie has an excellent featured singer who comes along to give him a minute off stage. Sheléa Melody Frazier, who starred in the excellent Clark Sisters film a few years ago, commands the stage with a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Until You Come Back to Me,” written for the Queen of Soul by Stevie. She also sings an original song called “Something’s Coming,” that Mariah Carey should swoop down on immediately. It’s a standard in the making.
On his famous collection of 70s albums, a lot of Stevie’s songs are long. But last night he cut them down to size very economically to the fit the time allotted. But look at that stage: five back up singers, six violinists, five horn players. This is no simple enterprise, but a great undertaking unlike anything else you will see today. His orchestra reminded me of Aretha Franklin’s during her last years of performing. This musicianship will soon be a thing of the past.
Stevie stays away from politics, kind of. The man who commandeered the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is obviously a Kamala Harris supporter. But he keeps that to himself, just reminding the audience we must “move forward,” and that everyone deserves freedom of choice. A one of a kind, transformative experience.
