CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Tri-C JazzFest is underway and though there are few icons and legends from across the globe coming to town during the festival, there’s also a tribute show from a homegrown talent who will not just be playing but exploring the depths of some beloved music from a pop music icon.

Akron guitarist Dan Wilson will be performing his “7 Decades of Wonder: The Genius of Stevie” set at 10 p.m. Friday, June 23, at the Allen Theatre.

Northeast Ohio jazz fans know Wilson because he has been a fixture on the regional jazz scene for several years as a musician and educator, and has toured and recorded with jazz legends as part of the late organist Joey DeFrancesco’s trio, which produced a Grammy nomination. He has recorded two albums with Van Morrison, too.

Wilson also was a part of fellow Tri-C JazzFest performer Christian McBride’s Tip City trio, which toured the world. Wilson has been publicly praised repeatedly by two of his guitar heroes and musical influences, Pat Metheny and George Benson. Metheny even personally requested Wilson to perform at a tribute concert in New York.

Wilson is a recording artist with three albums of mostly originals in his catalog including “Things Eternal” released in May on McBride’s Mack Avenue Music label.

So why would an up-and-coming musician with a new album spend his spotlight moment at the Tri-C JazzFest exploring the music of Stevie Wonder rather than promoting his new material?

“Well, on one hand, Steve is better than I am,” Wilson said with a chuckle.

“I’ve just wanted to do this for a while, and I pitched it to the jazz fest, I think before I even recorded my record. And kind of thinking ahead, l want to eventually turn this into a project, because I’m a lifelong Stevie fan. I’m kind of obsessed with his music,” he said.

Wonder’s songs and records run strong through the bloodstream of American pop music, and so many music fans are familiar with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s biggest hits and classic cuts. But Wilson said Wonder fans shouldn’t expect the evening to be a greatest hits show with different singers or a glorified audience karaoke.

“It’s not going to be just like a cover band thing, that’s what I want folks to understand. It’s not like the Stevie cover band where we play the arrangements exactly like they are on the record because I feel like that would be disrespectful to Stevie,” he said.

Wilson has performed versions of his tribute for several years and in several cities. For the Jazzfest show, he has assembled an ace band of drummer Dave Throckmorton, bassist Brandon Rose, pianist Phillip Jones and keyboardist Alexis Lombre. To handle the vocals, Wilson enlisted three area singers — Jessica Yafanaro, Durrell Legrair and Hamilton Hardin plus special guest singer and trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick, who is Wilson’s label mate on Mack Avenue Music. She released her sophomore album “Something In The Water” in 2022 and has worked with Herbie Hancock, Phish, Christian McBride, Tom Petty, Aaron Neville and others.

Wilson has studied and played Wonder’s music for several years but says with 1970s music, there is still plenty to discover and explore. He encourages his bandmates to do the same.

“I think the arrangements have really evolved. We’ve had a chance to kind of dial in exactly what we want to do with the arrangements. And I leave everybody’s space to kind of take liberties,” Wilson said, recalling a recent show where the pianist’s improvised solo of Wonder’s lovely ballad “Overjoyed” had “people falling on the floor.”

“I want to leave enough room for spontaneity. I don’t want it to just be rigid. I just want some stuff to happen, you know,” he said.

And drawing from Wonder’s book of songs, there’s plenty for an arranger to improvise with. For example, Wilson says the ballad “You Will Know” from Wonder’s “Characters” album is a prime example of why artists of all stripes have long been enamored with the music legend’s skills.

“Stevie is a master at going in between two key centers. So, in some of his songs, you’re not really sure exactly what key the song is in because it flows naturally between two keys. It is in both E major and C sharp. You almost don’t notice that he’s going between two keys, and that’s the genius of it. All this harmonic complexity is happening, but it’s so easy to listen to that. And I didn’t realize that until I started writing it out. I was like, ‘Oh, what do we have here?’” Wilson said.