Stevie Wonder was playing his first ever gig in Tokyo and the venue was

absolutely packed to the rafters. In a bid to break the ice with his new

audience he asked if anyone would like him to play a request.

A little old Japanese man jumped out of his seat in the first row and

shouted at the top of his voice, “Play a jazz chord! Play a jazz chord!”.

Amazed that the little oriental man knew about the jazz influences in

Stevie’s varied career, the blind virtuoso went into a difficult jazz melody

for about 10 minutes.

When he finished the whole place went wild – but the little old man jumped

up again and shouted “No, no, play a jazz chord, play a jazz chord”.

Slightly annoyed, Stevie, being the professional that he is, dived straight

into a jazz improvisation with his band and really tore the place apart. The

crowd went wild with this impromptu show of his technical expertise.

The little old man jumped up again. “No, no, NO. Play a Jazz chord, a jazz

chord!!”.

Well and truly pissed off that this little bloke didn’t seem to appreciate

his playing ability, Stevie said to him from the stage “OK smart ass, you

get up here and do it!”

The little old Japanese man man climbed nervously onto the stage, took hold

of the mike, faced the huge audience and started to sing….

” A jazz chord to say a ruv yoo…”

smiles

chuckles