Stevie Wonder has a catalogue which people tend to never tire of. The man himself will be performing as the BST Hyde Park Festival this summer. Tickets have already sold out.

Wonder is also much adored in the London soul scene with entire shows built around his catalogue. One of the best Stevie Wonder celebrations on the scene is Some Kinda Wonderful. Number seven in our top 10 soul gigs of 2018, Some Kinda Wonderful is a mighty alliance between saxophonist Derek Nash and vocalist Noel McCalla. With a terrific band supporting them, Nash and McCalla shine on re-arranged Stevie classics.

Interview

The House That Soul Built spoke to Mr Nash about his discovery of Stevie Wonder’s music and his plans for the Some Kinda Wonderful act.

‘I think my first memory [of Stevie Wonder] was when Songs in the Key of Life came out and it was one of those must-have albums of my teenage years … And from that point you keep going earlier and you keep going later. But I think that was for me the linchpin.’

Nash mentions that having explored the entire catalogue, he has become quite fond of some of the more obscure cuts. He mentions ‘Contusion’ from the Songs in the Key of Life album, a dark, instrumental piece drawing upon Wonder’s medical problems.

Nash aspires to get as many songs under his belt so that the show can cater to audience appetites on any given night. He tells me that at their last gig at The Boisdale in Canary Wharf, audience members fed requests to the band on pieces of paper. ‘Hopefully, when we get these requests we can change course in the middle of the gig,’ he says. Nash also mentions wanting to incorporate material which Wonder wrote for other artists into the set. The set currently includes Rufus & Chaka Khan’s ‘Tell Me Something Good’. Another piece on the cards for future sets is ‘Tears of a Clown’, written by Wonder initially as an instrumental piece before being adapted for Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

I ask Nash about his partnership with Noel McCalla – the former lead vocalist for rock group Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. In my initial review of Some Kinda Wonderful, I noted the ‘fulsomeness’ and richness of McCalla’s vocals. Nash describes first seeing McCalla when the latter was singing in jazz-funk group Morrisey-Mullen. ‘I always knew that I’d love to work with him. I was always amazed by his vocals.’

After McCalla returned to London after touring stints abroad, Nash and McCalla joined forces briefly, performing a couple of Wonder songs in their live set. ‘Nobody else I’m ever worked with interpreted [Stevie] like he did.’

It took six months for Nash to persuade McCalla to perform a whole show of Stevie Wonder. McCalla was reluctant, deeming Wonder’s repertoire as ‘hallowed ground’. This served to further convince Nash that McCalla was the right vocalist for the role. ‘The best musicians I’ve ever met still want to practice and still want to do better… [Musicians are] still eternally searching to improve ourselves.’  

Some Kinda Wonderful will be performing at The Crazy Coqs, Central London on 9th May 2019. You can buy tickets here! You can also catch the show at Pizza Express High Holborn on 10th August, tickets here!

(Image copyright: JBGB Productions)