Stevie Wonder - The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie [Remastered] (1962/2015)

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. ~ Bruce Eder & Ron Wynn

Tracklist:
01. Stevie Wonder - Fingertips (Original Studio Version) (2:56)
02. Stevie Wonder - The Square (Album Version) (3:00)
03. Stevie Wonder - Soul Bongo (Album Version) (2:18)
04. Stevie Wonder - Manhattan At Six (Album Version) (3:44)
05. Stevie Wonder - Paulsby (Album Version) (2:44)
06. Stevie Wonder - Some Other Time (Album Version) (5:08)
07. Stevie Wonder - Wondering (Album Version) (2:49)
08. Stevie Wonder - Session Number 112 (Album Version) (3:15)
09. Stevie Wonder - Bam (Album Version) (3:35)