#StevieWonder Meets #StanGetz

I added a video to a @YouTube playlist https://t.co/r9WTnr6fbV Stevie Wonder Meets Stan Getz

— jazzbreak (@JazzBreak1) August 14, 2016

Spain - Stevie Wonder (Live London 2008)

Stevie Wonder Drum Solo (Rare Video)

Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder - For Once in my life live

Clip of Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett on "Tony Bennett's American Classic." Awesome performance!! Best Duet ever. Very moving.

Stevie Wonder and Bill Cosby to Appear at Jazz Themed Celebration at Oberlin

Wonder and Cosby to receive honorary degrees and to perform at opening of new home for jazz studies at Oberlin.

By Aubrey Everett
Stevie Wonder and Bill Cosby will each give performances and receive honorary degrees from Oberlin College during the school’s grand opening celebration of its new home for jazz studies. The two-day celebration, scheduled for April 30 and May 1, will honor the new Litoff Building and include concerts, jazz films, workshops, a panel discussion and the honorary degree ceremony.

The Litoff Building is just nearing completion this spring and was designed by architectural firm Westlake Reed Leskosky. In addition to housing the Oberlin Conservatory of Music’s Department of Jazz Studies, the building also has a state-of-the-art recording studio and the largest privately held jazz recording collection in the United States. The Litoff building promotes green building practices and sustainable strategies, and aims to be the first music facility to attain the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

The building pays tribute to the late Phyllis Litoff, a beloved New York City jazz impresario and co-owner of the famed jazz club Sweet Basil, and Wendell Logan, a professor of African American Music and Chair of the Jazz Studies Department, who has been at Oberlin for 35 years.

The celebration kicks off Friday at 4 p.m. when the college bestows honorary degrees on Wonder, and Cosby and his wife Camille. The Drs. Cosby will be receiving the Doctorate of Humanities conferred by Dr. Johnnetta Cole, in honor of their contributions as artists, educators and philanthropists. Wonder will be receiving the Doctorate of Music conferred by Professor Logan for his distinguished career as a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, as well as his humanitarian efforts, and philanthropic leadership.

The Jazz Film Mo’ Better Blues, featuring Denzel Washington and directed by Spike Lee, will be shown Friday night at 7 p.m. and a show business comedy routine called “An Evening with Bill Cosby” begins at 8:30 p.m.

Saturday’s events include the Litoff Building dedication ceremony, tours and open house; a one-on-one with Oberlin graduate and American History X actor Avery Brooks who will address his career and the challenges that face young artists; a screening of the Jazz Film ‘Round Midnight; and a panel discussion on green building and architectural design. The weekend ends with the celebratory concert on Saturday night headlined by Wonder.
http://jazztimes.com/sections/news/articles/“http://www2.oberlin.edu/litoff/index.html/

Diana Krall Included as Special Guest to Stevie Wonder's White House Event

Diana Krall was recently included in Stevie Wonder's White House event as a special guest. President Barack Obama was present yesterday at the event to award Stevie Wonder with the Second Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Diana's participation at the ceremony will be broadcast on the new PBS Live at the White House series.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=30890

Obamas honor Stevie Wonder at White House....

President Barack Obama on Wednesday thanked musician Stevie Wonder for creating “a style that’s uniquely American” as he presented the singer-songwriter the nation’s highest award for pop music.
Obama, who called Wonder the soundtrack of his youth, gave the star the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during an East Room tribute that featured Tony Bennett, Martina McBride and Wonder himself. The president joked that the group was “the most accomplished Stevie Wonder cover band in history.”
Wonder was emotional at times, thanking Obama for the award and reflecting on what his election as the first black president means to the United States.

“What is truly exciting for me today is that we truly have lived to see a time and a space where America has a chance to again live up to the greatness that it deserves to be seen and known as, through the love and caring and the commitment of a president — as in our president, Barack Obama,” he said.
Wonder cited Martin Luther King Jr., his faith and his mother during an acceptance speech that flowed into a set of Obama’s favorite songs. The Grammy-winning musician — he has 25 of the awards — joked that he looked forward to writing more love songs — perhaps a soundtrack for “you know, maybe I’ll be a part of creating some more of those babies.”
Obama praised Wonder’s decades-long career and a style that has blended pop and funk, R&B and gospel.

“Stevie has always drawn on the incredible range of traditions in his music and, from that, he’s created a style that’s at once uniquely American, uniquely his own, and yet somehow universal,” Obama said. “Indeed, this could be called the American tradition — artists demonstrating the courage, the talent to find new harmonies in the rich and dissonant sounds of the American experience.”
First lady Michelle Obama spoke in more personal terms, calling Wonder “one of the world’s greatest artists.” She recalled how she and her grandfather would listen to Wonder’s albums together.

“He’d blast music throughout the house and that’s where he and I would sit and listen to Stevie’s music together — songs about life, love, romance, heartache, despair. He would let me listen to these songs over and over and over and over again,” she said.
The first album she bought was Wonder’s “Talking Book,” and she and Barack Obama used “You and I” as their wedding song.
President Obama said he was lucky to have already loved Wonder’s music when he first met his mate.

“I think it’s fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me, we might not have married,” Obama said, with his wife sitting in the front row. “The fact that we agreed on Stevie was part of the essence of our courtship.”
Although the president is a well-known fan — Wonder performed at his nominating convention in Denver last summer and at a Lincoln Memorial concert before his January inauguration — the Library of Congress had decided to honor Wonder before Obama won the election.

The Gershwin Prize honors George and Ira Gershwin and is given for lifetime achievement in popular music. Paul Simon claimed the nation’s first prize in 2007.
Wonder’s performance will be broadcast Thursday on PBS stations as part of a White House series on the arts.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.