POP MUSIC REVIEW : R&B; Master Class From Professor Stevie Wonder

In the last decade or so, R&B; has been overrun by musical wimps--from Boyz II Men to Tevin Campbell to Jade to Brandy. These pretenders have been foisting a brand of gutless R&B--all; posturing and passionless note-stretching--on young audiences.

Now if you wanted to hear some real R&B; singing, the place to be was the Universal Amphitheatre on Saturday, where Stevie Wonder--who hasn’t toured in several years--was holding court.

Running 2 1/4 hours, it was an outstanding show--full of pure, old-fashioned R&B.; While most of today’s young R&B; singers are just plain pitiful when it comes to dynamics, Wonder is a master. He can do more things with his vibrato in one song than some other singers do in an entire show. Every young R&B; singer in town should have been there taking notes.

Actually, it’s remarkable that Wonder, 44, is still going strong. Nearly all the R&B; greats who were stars when he started out as Little Stevie Wonder with “Fingertips” back in the early ‘60s have either long since faded or are on their last legs.

How much has Wonder lost?

Not much, if anything. His voice is as deep and rich as ever and he didn’t have any trouble with the high notes.

Some may point to exquisite taste as the key to Wonder’s success, but the real secret is his ability to stay current, to be fluent in the R&B; style of the moment. An acknowledged fanatic about music, he’s constantly exploring, experimenting and grafting all sorts of elements onto his basic style.

Don’t look for him to turn into a middle-aged Snoop Doggy Dogg, but he has been dabbling in hip-hop. From his upcoming “Conversation Peace” album, he showcased the dazzling “Sensuous Whisper,” which has a jazzy, hip-hop feel.

Still, this show--attended mostly by a mid-20s through middle-aged audience--wasn’t for hip-hoppers. Wonder is a great romantic, with songs such as “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “My Cherie Amour” and “Lately.” For many youngsters, that’s G-rated old fogies’ music.

Wonder has one of the most impressive repertoires of any artist in the business. Though the show was mostly devoted to old songs--including “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” and “Sir Duke”--he still omitted many of his familiar oldies because there are simply too many. You don’t realize how many hits he’s had until you add up those he didn’t play.

In addition to the terrific support by the female vocal quartet For Real, Wonder was backed by an orchestra that he didn’t really need most of the time. Some of the hits, such as “Superstition,” would have sounded infinitely funkier without all that superfluous instrumentation.

The orchestra unnecessarily underscored the sweetness of some of his romantic songs, working against the true grit in his voice. The orchestra didn’t really spoil any of the songs but was sometimes an annoying presence