For me ,the greatest album ever made was Songs in the Key of Life,by Stevie Wonder.The album had everything and it's incredible to think a man barely out of his 20's wrote and produced all those songs as well as performing most of the instruments. If you don't know that album or haven't got it,please do,and your musical life will never be the same again!
From songs such as Sir Duke,Isn't she lovely,which was not even a single-can you believe the cheekiness of that man Stevie Wonder?One of the greatest songs ever written was not a single? And there is more,Past time paradise,which later turned up as a massive hit song for rapper Coolio in the 90's,then there was "As",If its Magic,and on and on.Truly incredible album by Stevie Wonder.The man was truly a genius.
So you can imagine how very jealous i was, when i learnt Stevie Wonder performed the album,Songs in the Key of Life,in its entirety at the TD Garden on Tuesday 11th November 2014.I would have given anything to be there to listen and watch the man Stevie Wonder perform the greatest album ever made,Songs in the Key of Life.But one woman was at the TD Garden to watch the performance and here is her take on the night below...
There are good album titles and then there are perfect album titles.
Stevie Wonder was truly on to something when he called his 1976 double album “Songs in the Key of Life.”
He knew then that sometimes life called for funky jazz fusion and at other times it called for simmering Southern soul. Or perhaps despairing string-laden ballads of pure pop or a jubilant horn-soaked reverie about the power of music itself were what was necessary. Tuesday at a sold-out TD Garden, he played all of those and more in an epic performance of the entirety of “Songs in the Key of Life” — including the bonus four-song EP and a night-closing “Superstition.”
Like the album itself, the two-hour-40-minute performance was a maelstrom of sound and emotion. As Wonder — in excellent voice and typically playful spirits — led his massive band through the songs, the pendulum swung from the ecstatic giddiness of the pioneer salute “Sir Duke” and the fidgety, funky ode to nostalgia “I Wish” to the chilling surge of strings underscoring the desperation of “Pastime Paradise” and the dramatic cosmic lament “Saturn.”
Stevie Wonder — on piano, organ, and various keyboards and harmonica — and his ensemble were drum tight, and with strings, horns, a choir, multiple keyboardists, backing vocalists, and percussionists, numbered more than 30 members strong at various points throughout the night.
“Saturn” was among a handful of tunes that found the band grow even larger as Wonder’s special guest, India.Arie, added vocals and warmth to the proceedings. She also accompanied him on a breathtakingly simple “If It’s Magic.”
If the concept of the tour mandated that an entire jukebox of other Wonder songs were elbowed off the set list — like, say, “Living For the City,” “Higher Ground,” “My Cherie Amour,” to name just three — it was a small price to pay to hear deeper-cuts such as the soul-stirring “Joy Inside My Tears” performed live.
That said, it is remarkable how many classics are on that one album, including the buoyant “Isn’t She Lovely” — for which Wonder introduced daughter/backup singer and the song’s inspiration Aisha — the lilting “As,” and the defiantly despairing “Village Ghetto Land.” (There were also a few tunes that could’ve benefited from judicious editing. Even those with fond childhood memories of the album might have forgotten just how many eight-minute songs there are on it. But, hey, he’s Stevie Wonder, he can do what he wants.)
Wonder has reached the stage of his career where he is often brought out at awards shows to confer status on a younger artist. Tuesday night was a potent reminder why Wonder earned the power of anointing: by being someone who innately understands the many keys in which life is sung.
Sarah Rodman contributed to this story.