Stevie Wonder’s Miraculous Mid-70s Run is Getting a Three-Night All-Star Tribute at BAM

By Michael Gonik

This summer will mark 50 years since Stevie Wonder released his towering, Grammy-winning triple-album, Songs in The Key of Life.

For myriad Wonder fans, the golden anniversary of his 1976 magnum opus is cause enough to celebrate. And while many would rightfully argue the sheer scale and prolificacy of the Motown maestro’s output over his 60-plus-year career defies any notion of there being a specific “genius era” to point at, the stretch of releases between 1972’s Music of My Mind and 1976’s Songs is widely regarded as one of the most productive and innovative album runs ever (though this writer would personally contend it actually begins with 1970’s slightly psyched Signed Sealed Delivered and extends to 1979’s bordering-on-ambient pseudo-soundtrack Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants).

If you share a reverence for—or at the very least, acknowledge the importance of—the five albums comprising this categorically magical pocket of brilliant, era-defining songwriting, the Brooklyn Academy of Music has just the event(s) for you. BAM is celebrating Stevie Wonder’s miraculous mid-70s marathon with three consecutive nights of all-star tributes by the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra. Under the music direction of Darrell M. McNeill and LaFrae Sci, the group will perform both faithful recreations and modern reinterpretations of the five albums Wonder released between 1972 and 1976 (as well as songs Wonder wrote for other artists during those years), with contributions from Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and Corey Glover, The Roots’ Ray Angry, guitarist David Ryan Harris, harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret, and more.

May 14 will feature performances of Music of My Mind and Talking Book; May 15 is dedicated to Innervisions and Fulfillingness’ First Finale; and the series closer on May 16 will treat the mammoth musical breakthrough Songs in The Key of Life to its own standalone set.

Tickets for the shows are on sale now via BAM. We expect these to go in a hurry, though, so don’t put this one off for too long.