Stevie Wonder

This quintessential release presents Little Stevie Wonder’s first two LPs: "Tribute to Uncle Ray" and "The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie", which were both produced by Clarence Paul and originally issued by Tamla Records in 1962. The former album marked Stevie’s debut recording, when he was just 11 years old! However, it was released shortly after the entirely instrumental LP, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie (originally issued in Mono, September 1962). With regards to the latter album, Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby co-composed the majority of the songs while Paul also produced the album.

The LP was a firm reminder of the jazz pedigree of the musicians involved. Most impressive of all were the talents of Stevie Wonder even at this very early stage in his musical development. On this album, he showcases his abilities 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. 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, this is Wonder’s only studio album in which he does not sing, yet the sounds are rich and diverse enough that one never misses the vocals.