Stevie Wonder Songs In The Key Of Life

Songs in the Key of Life was Stevie Wonder's longest, most ambitious collection of songs, a two-LP (plus accompanying EP) set that – just as the title promised – touched on nearly every issue under the sun, and did it all with ambitious (even for him), wide-ranging arrangements and some of the best performances of Wonder's career…

Taking more than two years from conception to release, Stevie Wonder’s classic 1976 double-album Songs In The Key Of Life is now generally accepted as his finest creative hour in an enduring recording career spanning over four decades. Released on October 9th 1976 Songs In The Key Of Life was a worldwide best seller. It entered the U.S. Billboard album chart at number 1 and remained there for 14 weeks, as well as securing a 44-week chart residency in the Top 40.

For most of his life, Trevor Exter has been a professional singer and cellist with his own approach to all aspects of composing, songwriting, producing, performing and touring. He has a couple of bands where he gets to make a spectacle of himself, and some producers like to use him as a secret weapon.

Four-time SESAC Award-winning and Grammy nominee Pianist/Arranger Bob Baldwin continues his flow of music, and follows up with his tributes to Michael Jackson and Songwriter extraordinaire Thom Bell with his MelloWonder/Songs In the Key of Stevie CD. MelloWonder… takes some of his favorite songs from the catalog of Stevie Wonder, and particularly a huge chunk between 1969-1974, when Baldwin believes this was the beginning of an era where Wonder turned the keyboard into a “one-man orchestra.” The project is a dream project, which took two years to complete.

Aside from his tremendous powers of performance, Stevie Wonder stands as one of the greatest songwriters of the late 20th century, probing the joyous peaks and depressing valleys of love and relationships. The Motown tribute album Conception: An Interpretation of Stevie Wonder's Songs has its highs and lows as well; with Stevie himself in the producer's chair (along with new-era Motown exec Kedar Massenburg), the album certainly has a lot of promise. It boasts plenty of neo-soul balladeers – India.Arie, Mary J. Blige, Brian McKnight, Joe, Musiq – as well as mainstream stars like Eric Clapton and John Mellencamp, who took musical cues from classic Stevie Wonder LPs like Talking Book or Songs in the Key of Life.