Brooklyn Academy of Music celebrates Stevie Wonder with three-day concert series

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- Few artists can say they helped reshape the sound of music like Stevie Wonder.

His albums in the early to mid 1970s did more than top charts; they expanded the boundaries of what popular music and artistic freedom could be.

Now, that creative run returns to the stage in a celebration starting Thursday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

"You Are The Sunshine of My Life," Stevie Wonder's classic, topped the charts in 1973.

Inside B.A.M. In Downtown Brooklyn, the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra and other accomplished musicians are busy rehearsing and fine-tuning the ballad ahead of a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.

"Stevie Wonder is a central pop musical figure, not just as a pop icon but what he brought creatively and intellectually and culturally to popular music across the board," Darrell McNeill with Black Rock Coalition said.

The concerts that are spread out over three nights will focus on Stevie Wonder's so-called "classic period" beginning in 1972 when he was just 21 years old.

The legendary artist released five albums that changed the course of popular music.

"It was pretty much the beginnings of the evolution of Stevie Wonder as an entertainer to Stevie Wonder as pure genius," McNeill said.

One particular album created during the four-year stretch holds a special place in Troy Germano's heart.

"It made us a major player in the U.S. record industry," Germano said.

"Songs In the Key of Life" was recorded at The Hit Factory in New York City.

Troy remembers his dad, Eddie, getting the call from Stevie asking to book the studio for three days, which turned into roughly nine months.

"We didn't have many bookings before John Lennon and David Bowie but when people realized Stevie Wonder had worked at our studios for better part of a year, that really changed the whole trajectory of the studio going forward," Germano said.

The musical tribute coincides with Stevie Wonder's 76th birthday.

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