Stevie Wonder is playing his first gig in Hong Kong and the place is
absolutely packed to the rafters. In a bid to break the ice with his new
audience he asks if anyone would like him to play a request.
A little old Chinese man jumps out of his seat in the first row and shouts
at the top of his voice "Play a Jazz chord! Play a jazz chord!" Amazed
that this guy knows about the jazz influences in Stevie's varied career, the
blind impresario starts to play an E minor scale and then goes into a
difficult jazz melody for about 10 minutes.
When he finishes the whole place goes wild. The little old man jumps up
again and shouts, "No, no, play a Jazz chord, play a Jazz chord". A bit
cheesed off by this, Stevie, being the professional that he is, dives
straight into a jazz improvisation with his band around the B flat minor
chord and really tears the place apart.
The crowd goes wild with this impromptu show of his technical expertise.
The little old man jumps up again. "No, no. Play a Jazz chord, play a jazz
chord".
Well and truly cheesed off that this little guy doesn't seem to appreciate
his playing ability. Stevie says to him from the stage "OK smart ass. You
get up here and do it!"
The little old man climbs up onto the stage, takes hold of the mike and
starts to sing.... "A jazz chord, to say, I ruv you..."
