[troutman]

With my 6th pick in the draft, troutman's K-Tel Sound Explosion, selects in the Keyboard/Piano Category, from Saginaw, Michigan, Steveland Hardaway Judkins, aka STEVIE WONDER:

I was planning to go Mozart here, but was beaten to the punch. Rather than another classical artist, I'm happy to pick the incomparable Stevie Wonder.

http://www.steviewonder.net/

Born Steveland Morris in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950, Wonder enters his fifth decade as one of the most prolific artists in music history, delivering 35 U.S. albums - 28 major studio releases - with album sales totaling more than 72 million units. The singer/songwriter has scored more than 30 Top Ten Hits, 11 #1 Pop singles, winning 19 Grammys (and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in '96) and a host of other awards, including, most recently, Billboard's 2004 Century Award. His contribution to worldwide social and political change is just as impressive, with Wonder championing the effort to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday, as well as becoming a driving force behind 1985's USA For Africa campaign.


http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg...zfyxq8gld0e~T1

Stevie Wonder is a much-beloved American icon and an indisputable genius not only of R&B but popular music in general. Blind virtually since birth, Wonder's heightened awareness of sound helped him create vibrant, colorful music teeming with life and ambition. Nearly everything he recorded bore the stamp of his sunny, joyous positivity; even when he addressed serious racial, social, and spiritual issues (which he did quite often in his prime), or sang about heartbreak and romantic uncertainty, an underlying sense of optimism and hope always seemed to emerge. Much like his inspiration, Ray Charles, Wonder had a voracious appetite for many different kinds of music, and refused to confine himself to any one sound or style. His best records were a richly eclectic brew of soul, funk, rock & roll, sophisticated Broadway/Tin Pan Alley-style pop, jazz, reggae, and African elements — and they weren't just stylistic exercises; Wonder took it all and forged it into his own personal form of expression. His range helped account for his broad-based appeal, but so did his unique, elastic voice, his peerless melodic facility, his gift for complex arrangements, and his taste for lovely, often sentimental ballads. Additionally, Wonder's pioneering use of synthesizers during the '70s changed the face of R&B; he employed a kaleidoscope of contrasting textures and voices that made him a virtual one-man band, all the while evoking a surprisingly organic warmth.

Sir Duke
Just because a record has a groove, don't make it in the groove


Superstition


I Wish


I Believe (When I Fall In Love)


Classic Period: