The 'Natural Wonder' cd and tour ... It's a measure of Stevie Wonder's place in our collective unconscious that merely saying his name immediately conjures up good vibrations. To many listeners, especially during the past decade, when hip-hop so dominated the black-music scene, Wonder has been increasingly perceived as more of a soul-music icon than an authentic presence. Which is precisely what makes Natural Wonder — a double CD recorded live with a 30-piece symphony orchestra at concerts in Osaka, Japan, and Tel Aviv, Israel, such an important and revelatory statement. Because throughout the course of this 45 year retrospective, Wonder repeatedly demonstrates the remarkable extent to which his distinctive inner visions have been ahead of the musical curve.
Songs like "Superstition" ('72), the R&B standard "I Wish" ('76) and the reggae-bopping "Master Blaster (Jammin')," from 1980. In retrospect it's clear that when Wonder sang, "Music is a world within itself with a language that we all understand" on "Sir Duke," his '76 tribute to Duke Ellington, his kaleidoscopic, pancultural musical philosophy was already firmly in place. Listening to his wordless, soaring East-meets-West vocal gymnastics on "Love's In Need Today". All illustrate the seamless, eclectic genius of Stevie Wonder.
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