Highest Ground

Philadelphia, Summer 1974

I was 16—long-haired, suburban, and obsessed with two things: sports and music. One summer afternoon, my older brother Jeff got a call from our cousin Walt, who owned a studio in South Philly:

“I can’t find a photographer! Can you come down to the studio right now to take pictures of me with Stevie Wonder?”

Let me be clear: Stevie Wonder wasn’t just one of my favorite artists—he was my entire top five. I was in the car in record time.

I didn’t know, or care, why Stevie was at the studio. But in case you do: Cousin Walt was managing the Dixie Hummingbirds (of Paul Simon's Loves Me Like a Rock fame), and they were recording a gospel cover of Stevie’s “Jesus Children of America.” Ira Tucker Sr. was singing with the group at the time. His son, Ira Jr., was Stevie’s friend, right-hand man, and as reported, “Steve’s chief of staff and main man.”

Of course you’d do a favor for your best friend’s dad.

That was my first time in a recording studio. I positioned myself near Stevie—probably too close—utterly hypnotized by his playing and his joyful banter. The sound of that room, the feel of it, hit me like nothing before. My brother, ever thoughtful, managed to snap a photo of me: frozen, awestruck, and completely transfixed by my musical hero.

Years later, I finally found the right word for what I experienced that day: Darshan. In Sanskrit, it means a sacred encounter—literally, “to see.” In India, thousands once lined railway tracks for the Darshan of Gandhi as he passed by. For me, it was the profound presence of Stevie Wonder. The room had that energy—that rare awareness that he saw us too.

Fast forward six years to 1980, when I began my career in audio engineering in New York (that story’s next). In the decades since, I’ve chased that kind of consciousness in every creative space I’ve been lucky to enter. I’ve worked with, learned from, and been transformed by so many remarkable artists, co-workers, friends, and family members.

Few moments compare to that summer night in the studio with Stevie.

“I’m gonna keep on tryin’ / ‘til I reach my highest ground.”