A ‘House Full of Toys’ and Music

It’s a given that Stevie Wonder’s “House Full of Toys” holiday show benefits thousands of Southland children annually with the gifts it generates. Saturday’s sixth edition at the Inglewood Forum also gave strong testimony to the gifts Wonder has given succeeding generations of musicians.

Wonder’s influence was felt nearly from top to bottom, from the soulful romanticism of singers Musiq Soulchild, Tyrese and Brian McKnight to the life-affirming music of India.Arie and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds to the gritty social observations of Edmonds and rapper Ja Rule.

What quickly became evident was that a list of contemporary R&B; performers who haven’t been affected by Wonder’s nonpareil skills as a vocalist, songwriter, instrumentalist, producer and arranger would be drastically shorter than the tally of those who have.

Wonder spent more time on stage than he did last year, lending his voice, harmonica or piano accompaniment to numerous performances, which heightened the family-affair atmosphere.

His appearance with Edmonds to sing their 1997 hit duet “How Come, How Long” was a perfect example of the lingering impact of Wonder’s social conscience as filtered through a song lamenting a woman’s life wasted because she chose badly in love.

The emphasis was on soulful balladry, which also came through in the short sets by duo Pam & Dodi, Regina Belle, Dave Hollister and ‘80s-era Temptations singer Ollie Woodson, giving a warm romantic glow to a briskly paced four-hour show. Even though the concert wrapped up just shy of midnight and about an hour behind schedule--due largely to a late start--there were few of the lulls that can mar such multi-artist parades.

Watts-reared singer, model and actor Tyrese teased the rapturous women in the crowd of about 10,000 with his sex appeal during his two-song set but literally kept his shirt on in deference to the G-rated tone of the evening.

Philadelphia 23-year-old Soulchild clearly is indebted vocally to Wonder, which made his duet with his host a rewarding exercise in musical heredity.

Only firebrand singer-songwriter India.Arie, Ja Rule and Wonder himself broke the otherwise generally subdued mood by injecting propulsive uptempo tunes.

Freshman class member India.Arie, in particular, seems delightfully incapable of intimidation or artifice, even when accompanied by a musician as esteemed as Wonder. When he joined her to play harmonica on her sultry current single “Brown Skin,” her unbridled exuberance in the moment turned into one of the show’s highlights.

If anything was missing it was a rave-up performance like neo-gospel singer Kirk Franklin gave last year. Ja Rule came closest, apart from Wonder, although his energetic and distinctively gravelly rapping lacks the melodic power that adds fuel to Franklin’s fire.

Wonder closed with a generous run-through of nearly a dozen of his hits, mostly from the fertile ‘70s period in which he so magnificently fused inspired songwriting, masterful singing and inventive production with trenchant social commentary. The finale was the traditional all-star gathering for a rendition of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.”

The concert was carried live over the Internet this year for the first time, another step toward Wonder’s stated goal of eventually making “House Full of Toys” a global event.