Miles Bonny

Back in 2002, Madlib (under the guise of Yesterdays New Quintet) released a tribute to Stevie Wonder. Simply titled Stevie, the collection of jazzy instrumentals wasn't originally meant for public consumption, and one can only assume that the same holds true for Miles Bonny's Steveland. The EP was limited to 44 copies and is essentially Bonny singing and playing a little trumpet over four of Madlib's tracks. It starts like a night of clowning around, with the KC producer doing a cheesy lounge-singer impression on "Send One Your Love." The bit never really pays off, though it still lends a certain credibility to the tracks that follow. Bonny takes few liberties with "Rocket Love," "Golden Lady" and "Too High." As a result, his heavily processed vocals breathe life into the source material; more important, they do justice to one of the patron saints of soul music.