Robert Glasper closed out a week of shows at the new Blue Note Jazz Club in Los Angeles last night (Dec. 21) by welcoming Stevie Wonder for a guest appearance on the latter’s classic song “Golden Lady.” See a clip below.
The artists have been friends and collaborators for many years, with Wonder contributing harmonica to Glasper’s Miles Davis-themed 2016 album Everything’s Beautiful. The previous year, Glasper, Lalah Hathaway and the late Malcolm-Jamal Warner won the Best Traditional R&B Performance Grammy for their cover of Wonder’s “Jesus Children of America.”
“In my opinion, he’s the greatest artist ever. He’s the greatest artist to ever walk the earth,” Glasper said last year on his Apple Music show In My Element Radio. “There’s are like five different elements that the whole world copies, and it’s just Stevie.”
Wonder wasn’t the only guest throughout the Glasper run, which last night featured Lupe Fiasco and Alex Isley and in the past has drawn everyone from Thundercat and Miguel to Dave Chappelle and Jamie Foxx.
Wonder was suddenly available to perform last night following the abrupt cancellation of four planned House Full of Toys benefit concerts from Dec. 18-21 at Los Angeles’ Fonda Theatre. The gigs had only been announced on Dec. 11 and Wonder said in a statement that he didn’t have enough time to properly prepare. “Next year, we will again do House Full of Toys with the big idea and enough time to put it together,” he said.
