Search - Eivets Rednow :: Alfie

Stevie's instrumental sounds from 1968...

semaj emorej | dallas, texas United States | 11/26/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"in 1963 little stevie wonder recorded his first instrumental

album entitled "the jazz soul of little stevie"/five years later

in 1968,stevie records his second all instrumental album under

a mysterious pseudonym his alter ego:"eivets rednow" which is

stevie wonder spelled backwards.in fact,on the upper right hand

corner of the original album cover-it gives away the hidden identity of the artist with the ?uestion:'how do you spell stevie wonder backwards?'there is no photograph of the talented

musician on the album cover,which is replaced with a photograph

of musical instruments that are blended into each other thru

transparency.the music itself is just that-musical instrumentals with no vocals.this album is 50/50:50% of it has covers and 50% of it has originals. the covers are hal david&burt bacharach's

'alfie'and 'a house is not a home'/d. addrisi's 'never my love'/m. parish&h.roemheld's 'ruby'/philemon hou's 'grazing in the grass'/the originals are:'more than a dream'/'how can you believe'/'ask the lonely'/'which way the wind'/'bye bye world'/this all instrumental album has nice orchestrations combined with wonder's classic harmonica playing,his use of the clavinet.this is nice mood music 2 chill out 2 or 2 have dinner with that special someone in your life.the standout cuts are:'how can you believe'/and the combined medley of 'never my

love'and 'ask the lonely'/the long and beautiful 'ruby' of which stevie leads with harmonica.the piece has relaxed strings and a few laid back horn parts.the slightly upbeat 'which way the world'is clavinet driven.this piece has plenty of horns.'bye bye world'is also clavinet controlled as well but it is more upfront in the song and it also has a good horn section.this album along with his more commercial "for once in my life album" are the first two albums that wonder makes use of the clavinet which adds more jazz,funk,and soul to his music making.stevie wonder's "eivets rednow" was not recorded 4 commercial purposes.it was recorded 4 the enjoyment 4 the artist himself and his fascination 4 the art's sake of music itself...

"

For harmonicists and fans of easy listening

Andre M. | Mt. Pleasant, SC United States | 12/29/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For the casual listener, this CD is filled with some very relaxing music. The srot of thing you'd play at the end of a hard day's work or at a candlelight dinner at home with a loved one. For aspiring harmonicists, one listen to this will let you know that you still need to practice! Enjoy."