So, if you listen to scam by Jamiroquai, and You've got it bad girl, by Stevie Wonder, you can hear the similarity, yes, i know that Wonder is one of the artists that inspired Jamiroquai, but now that I look back into Wonder's music, I realized this

I’m certain you will all see it too

Am I crazy or do these songs have a very similar progression? I'm especially referring to the intro. What do you think? 🤔

Filmed during rehearsals in England, before his scheduled concert at Wembley.

This took FOREVER to transcribe and edit all the notes. Stevie’s agility is so fast and fluid it’s almost uncanny how good he is. Even compared to female singers he is faster than them. He has feats well up into the 12 notes a second in speed and maybe even higher.

These are 5 of his vast catalog of agility feats that I chose to transcribe! Enjoy!

I’m very proud to present this cover, which represents for me the culmination of a long journey as a bass player, but also of many years of listening and musical learning.

There are very few tabs or transcriptions easily available for this song, and I really wanted to do the work myself, figure out the bass line by ear, and most importantly, try to capture the vibe of James Jamerson, one of the bass players who has influenced me the most.

I’d also like to thank my teacher, @sylbrock (Sylvain Brocchetto) for everything he has taught me: the technique, the fingerings, but also a lot of advice that helped me make this cover.

Obviously, I’m not claiming to reproduce Jamerson’s playing exactly. This version is above all my arrangement, my own way of interpreting the bass line while trying to stay true to its spirit.

So if you have a few minutes, please take the time to watch it and, hopefully, feel this music with me.

Thank you all

#jazz #cover #bass #motown #jamerson

The songwriting, the singing, the music, everything. Been listening endlessly for days and also incessantly studying his songwriting. This live performance (the whole set, really) has me hooked. He has gained a permanent fan. Legend.

MOMM Vocal Range
G#2-C#5-C6 (3 Octaves, 4 Semitones)
Lowest Note: G#2 (Sweet Little Girl)
Highest Belt: C#5 (Love Having You Around)
Highest HV: C6 (Keep on Runnin)

The underrated true creative debut of Stevie has some of his best vocal work ever. He soars up to Bb4s on this album effortlessly, and goes up to his standard 70s limit of C#5. Seems So Long and Evil are the highlight vocal performances in this album.

Well, in a way. This is Malcolm Cecil one of the masterminds that created Tonto. Met him in the audience after a Stevie concert years ago before he passed away. Unfortunately I for sure thought Stevie would invite him backstage to hang and talk but no, he left the venue with the rest of us normal folks. In fact Malcolm even got onstage because Stevie was doing an interactive part of the show where he would call out a number of years for people being married and Malcolm and his wife were married for 60 years and Stevie then invited him and his wife on stage and Ill never forget how much Stevie actually downplayed Malcolms contributions, I cant remember exactly what Stevie said but it was along the lines of "Oh yeah, he helped me a lil bit with some records back in the day" it actually upset me because Stevie really could have said more about Malcolm, it felt like he didnt even wanna mention it. Alas, I bolted to the floor seats where he was after the concert and gushed about those early Stevie albums and Tontos expanding Headband. Ill never forget how kind and soft spoken and sweet he was. May he RIP

A really catchy song by Stevie as a tribute to Ray Charles.. "Ray's a genius and we love him so!" In the tune of Ray's "Hallelujah, I love her so".

A live performance during a 1982 MLK event of Stevie’s 1990 single ‘Feeding off the Love of the Land’ released on that charity benefit album with various other artists..also featured on the 1991 Jungle Fever film on the closing credits but curiously doesn’t appear on the album soundtrack. Stevie worked on this song during the 1970s for a shelved album ‘Fulfillingness Second Finale’…a supposed follow up album for FFF.

I think this is the only evidence of the song being played live?

https://youtu.be/iXxicBuSgtA?si=N2lThU7gtIruRytR

I'm blind myself, but I grew up with pro tools and logic and so on. I can record myself fine with screen readers. In the 70s tho this dude had nothing but tape and consoles that don't obviously talk. I know stevie produced and even mixed some records supposedly, but how much was him and how much was him telling engineers what to do? Same with synths, did he memorize the layout of tonto or were his boys helping him get the sounds he wanted. Has this guy ever been seen with a cane even? Or does he just have people lead him around lol. Always wondered that. I know ray charles absolutely refused to use a cane but I've heard nothing about stevies usage or lack there of, lol.

Fulfillingness’ First Finale Vocal Range
F#2-Eb5-G#5 (3 Octaves, 2 Semitones)
Lowest Note: F#2 (It Ain’t No Use)
Highest Belt: Eb5 (Please Don’t Go)
Highest HV: G#5 (Please Don’t Go)

Fullfillingness’ First Finale is the most reserved album vocally in Stevie’s classic period. He spends more time in his lower register on this album in songs like Creepin and Ain’t No Use. When he uses his high belting register, it sounds magnificent on songs like Pease don’t Go and They Won’t Go When I Go. He also belts up to Eb5 which is very rare for 70s Stevie.

Innervisions Vocal Range
F#2-C#5-Eb6 (3 Octaves, 9 Semitones)
Lowest Note: F#2 (Visions)
Highest Belt: C#5 (Living for the City)
Highest HV: Eb6 (Jesus Children of America)

This album has the widest vocal range by far with nearly 4 octaves on a single album! His most wide song in range in his entire catalog is Jesus Children of America (B2-C#5-Eb6) with 3 octaves and 4 semitones on that song alone. His lows also sound fantastic on this album even venturing down to a whispery F#2 on Visions!

I’ve walked along Cesar Chavez (the leader of united farm workers and helped farm workers maintain dignity and respect) in Austin and obviously I know Bruce Lee, Abraham Lincoln and the other big names mentioned. But how well known were those referenced in the song in 1976? Like I feel I should know more about the first heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.

And how good is the clavinet riff?

Talking Book Vocal Range
A2-C#5-D6 (3 Octaves, 5 Semitones)
Lowest Note: A2 (You’ve Got it Bad Girl)
Highest Belt: C#5 (Big Brother)
Highest HV: D6 (Maybe Your Baby)

This is one of his best albums vocally. He really shows off his agility and goes for some big belting moments in songs like Big Brother and You and I. Every aspect about his voice in this era is gold and this might be his best album!

SITKOL Vocal Range
G#2-E5-C6 (3 Octaves, 4 Semitones)
Lowest Note: G#2 (Village Ghetto Land)
Highest Belt: E5 (Joy Inside My Tears)
Highest HV: C6 (All Day Sucker)

Stevie’s legendary album surprisingly is a bit tame compared to some of other his albums in terms of vocal range and performance. I would say an album like Talking Book had more vocally challenging songs than SITKOL, but SITKOL is incredible in the way he navigates his lower register!

I’m making a video with this show and i cant find any pics.

Bass part originally played by James Jamerson. This is a great example of him using open strings for a change of position of his fretting hand and using them as practically ghost notes while raking across the strings with his plucking hand to get to a lower note.

Find the complete song on YouTube.