''The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie'' is the debut studio album by Stevie Wonder (then billed as Little Stevie Wonder) released in September 1962 on the Tamla Motown label. The album showcases the 12-year-old Wonder's talents as a composer and instrumentalist and is one of two Wonder studio albums on which he does not sing (the other being '' Eivets Rednow''); he is featured on

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, the

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, and the harmonica. Wonder's mentors

Clarence Paul Clarence Otto Pauling (March 19, 1928 – May 6, 1995) better known and published as Clarence Paul, was an American songwriter, record producer and singer who was best known for his career with Detroit's Motown Records. Early life and career Bo ...

and

Henry Cosby Henry R. "Hank" Cosby (May 12, 1928 – January 22, 2002) was an American songwriter, arranger, producer and musician who worked for Motown Records from its formative years. Along with Sylvia Moy, Cosby was a key collaborator with Stevie Wonder ...

wrote and produced the material on ''The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder'', with the young Wonder himself also co-writing two of the compositions. The original studio version of "

Fingertips "Fingertips" is a 1963 hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's then Tamla label. Overview Written and composed by Wonder's mentors, Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby, "Fingertips" was originally a jazz instrumental recorde ...

" is included on the album; a live version would become Wonder's first hit single.

Track listing

Side one

" (

) – 3:00 - Little Stevie on

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

#"The Square" (Cosby, Paul) – 3:03 - Little Stevie on harmonica #"Soul Bongo" ( Marvin Gaye, Paul) – 2:20 - Little Stevie on bongos #"Manhattan at Six" (Cosby, Paul) – 3:47 - Little Stevie on drums #"Paulsby" (Cosby, Paul) – 2:47 - Little Stevie on organ and harmonica

Side two

#"Some Other Time" (Cosby, Paul) – 5:11 - Little Stevie on harmonica #"Wondering" (Paul, Stevie Wonder) – 2:51 - Little Stevie on organ #"Session Number 112" (Paul, Wonder) – 3:18 - Little Stevie on

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and harmonica #"Bam" (

Berry Gordy, Jr. Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

) – 3:34 - Little Stevie on harmonica

References

"The Jazz Soul Of Little Stevie"
at Discogs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jazz Soul Of Little Stevie Wonder 1962 debut albums Stevie Wonder albums Albums produced by Henry Cosby Albums produced by Clarence Paul Tamla Records albums Instrumental albums Albums recorded at Hitsville U.S.A.