Stevie Wonder's debut album, released when he was 11, is still an amazing musical document, showcasing his skills as a percussionist (drums and bongos), chromatic harmonica player, keyboardist (piano and organ), and composer -- and he was prodigious in all four categories. All of these skills are highlighted throughout this record, and Wonder's youthful, exuberant voice had a maturity suggesting that greatness was around the corner. Perhaps most surprising to contemporary listeners will be the emphasis on instrumentals, which made this a fairly unusual album by Motown standards to begin with. Apart from a few shouts in the background in some of the more free-form tracks, there's not a vocal to be heard here, yet the sounds are rich and diverse enough that one never misses them. What's more, a lot of what's here is extremely sophisticated instrumental music for its time, and the "jazz" reference in the title is not a matter of optimistic convenience or self-aggrandizement -- a lot of this is legitimate jazz.
by Bruce Eder
Tracklist
1
Fingertips 2:55
Bongos – Little Stevie
2
Square 2:59
Harmonica – Little Stevie
3
Soul Bongo 2:17
Bongos – Little Stevie
4
Manhattan At Six 3:44
Drums – Little Stevie
5
Paulsby 2:44
Organ, Harmonica – Little Stevie
6
Some Other Time 5:07
Harmonica – Little Stevie
7
Wondering 2:49
Organ – Little Stevie
8
Session Number 112 3:15
Piano, Harmonica – Little Stevie
9
Bam 3:33
Harmonica – Little Stevie
STEVIE WONDER - The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie
Motown [1962] CBR320 / scan
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