Portraits Of Wonder

Matt Lemmler | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2001)
• Original Release Date: August 8, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Matt Lemmler
• ASIN: B00005O0NS
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #732,291 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing

2. Ribbon in the Sky

3. Ebony Eyes

4. I Just Called To Say I Love You

5. You Are the Sunshine of My Life

6. Higher Ground

7. You & I

8. Isn't She Lovely

9. If It's Magic

10. Rocket Love

11. S'Wonder Song

Editorial Reviews

Keith Spera (New Orleans Times-Picayune 08/17/01)

Guided by Lemmler's often radical re-arrangements, craft a fresh, skillfully rendered take on a very familiar body of work.

Product Description

An original concept using Stevie Wonder’s most famous compositions, Matt Lemmler’s “Portraits of Wonder Band” is a vehicle to showcase some of New Orleans’ most outstanding jazz musicians. Matt Lemmler has given Stevie Wonder’s music a new twist by combining modern jazz harmonies and grooves for a nine piece modern jazz band, all based from New Orleans. And to add icing on the cake, he has written this music to feature two legendary New Orleans’ vocalists, Leah Chase and George French, the incredible talent of drummer Brian Blade and saxophonist John Ellis(Charlie Hunter). Lemmler has orchestrated Wonder’s music to create a new sound, but left the original lyrics and melodies of those most memorable songs composed almost 25 years ago. In order to realize his vision to the highest level, he had to assemble New Orleans’ finest jazz musicians. This truly is a Wonder-Full Band.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and varied, August 21, 2001

By 

David M. Evans (Vancouver, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Portraits Of Wonder (Audio CD)

The editor's nutshell encapsulation of this CD describes it as a New Orleans Jazz Tribute to the Music of Stevie Wonder, but that's just a small part of what I get out of it.

True, many of these musicians are stalwarts of the New Orleans scene, but many of them are deservedly recognized far beyond the Crescent City. And, the music itself, while unified by its origins, is widely diverse in its realization.

Whenever I find a new recording that I love, I want to share it with my friends. I never just put it on and let it play, though. I think about who I am playing it for, and try to grab them first with the tunes I think they will like the best:

If you are a fan of New Orleans performers like Dr. John or Professor Longhair, then listen to Ebony Eyes first. For intricate modern ensemble writing reminiscent of Bob Mintzer's, check out the surprising Latin reworking of If It's Magic.

Some selections expand into sonicscapes akin to the surprising film scores of Randy Newman or Tom Waits. Ribbon In The Sky becomes a hypnotic groove over which the melody unfolds with such graceful restraint that you almost can't stand the release when it finally boils over.

And, if you just appreciate great musicianship, pick any track. George French, Brian Blade, John Ellis, and Matt Lemmler blow me away throughout.

These songs have been in our ears for a generation, and seldom does a musician take them far from their origins. On this disc, many of these songs become new again--revealing new meanings, new grooves, new flavors of harmony.

It's a great testament to Lemmler's imagination and skill that in spite of the familiarity of these songs, he has found these new facets and brought them to us. And, it's a great testament to Stevie Wonder that his songs bloom in the hands of creative musicians--in the tradition of Ellington, Gershwin, Cole Porter, and the other creators of the canon of great songs.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Offbeat Magazine Review October 2001 Geraldine Wyckoff, November 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Portraits Of Wonder (Audio CD)

As pianist Matt Lemmler reminds us in his liner notes, jazz musicians have often turned to great popular composers for material. Citing examples like George Gershwin and Cole Porter, Lemmler rightly puts Stevie Wonder in their number as an artist whose works remain ripe for the plucking. For this ambitious and very satisfying project Lemmler arranged a selection of some of Wonder's most recognized tunes for a nine-piece ensemble made up entirely of New Orleans musicians. Wisely, he chose two exceptional singers-George French and Leah Chase-to perform the critical vocal parts. Empathetic to the material and extremely compatible with each other, they become the bright bow that crowns this well-designed package. Lemmler approaches the innards of these tunes as a jazz man, often taking them apart and reconstructing them with new rhythms and tones while showing reverence for their origins. Some classics, particularly those with vocals, like "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "Isn't She Lovely" remain stylistically close to their origins yet freshened by jazz arrangements and improvisation. Urbane and mature, Wonder's writings always brought an air of sophistication to the world of popular music, an aspect that is underscored in Lemmler's jazz interpretations and carried out by the large ensemble as heard on the disc's opener "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing." Of particular note, is the conceptually complex yet right on time rhythmic support offered by drum master Brian Blade. He and Lemmler pair up well on a provocative interchange on the first cut and carry on the articulate yet varying conversation throughout the disc. The rest of the solid band includes multi-reedmen John Ellis, Jason Mingledorff and Mel Rogers, trumpeters Jimmy Weber and Erik Jekabson, trombonist John Mahoney and bassist Mark Anderson. Lemmler pays further tribute to Wonder by closing with an original "S'Wonder Song." While evoking Wonder's style it embraces a certain little funk making it sound like something Stevie might have written if he was from New Orleans. Producer Tracey Freeman, who is best known locally for his work on albums by Harry Connick, Jr., and Kermit Ruffins, applies his talents to add the finishing touch to the classy product.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keith Spera (Review From New Orleans-Times Picayune), August 21, 2001

By 

Matt Lemmler (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Portraits Of Wonder (Audio CD)

****.5 (4 1/2 Stars out of 5) Pianist Matt Lemmler has toured nationally with a theatrical production of "The Phantom of the Opera," gigged with the Dukes of Dixieland, Pete Fountain and the John Mahoney Big Band, and premiered his compositions at Carnegie Hall. But he's also apparently spent many nights paging through the Stevie Wonder songbook. Lemmler's debut CD is a collection of Wonder compositions arranged for a nine-piece jazz ensemble with vocals. Guided by Lemmler's often radical re-arrangements and the production skills of Tracey Freeman, known for his work with Harry Connick Jr. and Kermit Ruffins, an all-star cast of jazz musicians and vocalists Leah Chase and George French craft a fresh, skillfully rendered take on a very familiar body of work. Lemmler approaches Wonder's catalog as he would that of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington or any other of the usual jazz source composers, which allows him great freedom in remaking it. "Higher Ground," for instance, is virtually unrecognizable as a seven-minute instrumental. "I Just Called to Say I Loved You" is turned inside out. Slowed way down and stripped bare, it becomes a forlorn lament from a spurned lover played by Chase. Long, droning notes from the horns set the mood; Mark Anderson's upright bass ushers in the barest of structure; Lemmler trickles piano notes over Brian Blade's isolated taps on the tom-toms. Against this backdrop, Chase oozes late night longing and hurt. "I just called to say I love you," she sings like Billie Holiday at her most devastated. "And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. "French, perhaps New Orleans' most underrated male vocalist, is given plenty of room to run as well. He lavishes an elegant take on "Ribbon in the Sky," dramatically holding out notes at its conclusion. The inherent sun in his voice is appropriate for "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." He and Chase team up on an upbeat "Ebony Eyes," in which Lemmler's Carnival-time piano is met by surging horns. Lemmler obviously relishes the options afforded by a nine-piece band, and he takes full advantage of the possibilities with arrangements that are full but not overloaded. "Portraits of Wonder" concludes with its lone Lemmler original, "S'Wonder Song," an instrumental paean to the disc's subject. An appealing, Wonder-esque melody is offset with a funky undertow, courtesy of the stutter in Blade's step. The horns answer in unison, with Lemmler's piano not far behind. Lemmler, obviously, learned the lessons of Wonder well.