“As” comes from Stevie Wonder and was released in 1976 on one of my all-time favourite soul albums: Songs in the Key of Life.

Three years later, the track lands in Japan. On Butterfly (1979), Kimiko Kasai and Herbie Hancock reinterpret the song.

The record is among the more sought-after and expensive releases by the singer, partly because jazz legend Herbie Hancock and his friends from The Headhunters are on board.

Kasai’s version stays true to the spirit of Stevie Wonder’s original, but comes across a bit more elegant and jazzier.

In short: Stevie Wonder writes the classic, Kasai and Hancock turn it into top-tier jazz-funk.