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Raul Midon's Wondrous 'State of Mind'

By Liane Hansen
Published August 7, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT
Raul Midon
Raul Midon

Raul Midon is in good musical company these days. He provides the vocals for Herbie Hancock's cover of the 1984 Stevie Wonder hit "I Just Called to Say I Love You." And on Midon's debut CD, State of Mind, Stevie Wonder shows up to play the harmonica.

Midon's voice and compositions remind many of Wonder, and that's not the only common bond. Midon has been blind since birth.

The son of a professional dancer born in Argentina and an African-American mother, Midon grew up in New Mexico. Music came to him early, though he tried the drums before picking up the guitar. He went to college in Miami and worked as a background vocalist, then moved to New York City three years ago.

Midon tells Liane Hansen about his musical aspirations, his songwriting influence and a CD which covers a variety of genres, from jazz to folk and Latin influences.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Liane Hansen
Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.