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By Rob Goald
rsgoald@comcast.net
Steve Winwood Lights Up The Joint
At The Hard Rock Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
June 29, 2007
Tickets: $49.50, $59.50 and $85.50
With one of the greatest voices in rock, if not the greatest, and a
master songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist, Steve Winwood turned in a
wonderful two and a half hour set at The Joint last Friday night.
Throughout the evening, Winwood explored the rhythm and blues mixture he
has been performing for close to forty-five years in stints with Spencer
Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith and as a solo artist.
Steve Winwood
Photo courtesy of
www.stevewinwood.com
As the lights went down the band quietly took the stage and launched
into a rousing rendition of “I’m a Man” from the days when Winwood was a
teenage wunderkind with the Spencer Davis Group. He then performed a
series of tunes from his latest album entitled “About Time” (2003) which
was recorded live without the use of multiple tracks or recording loops
and released on his own label Wincraft Music. This latest work is more
concerned with human connections, texture, and potent rhythmic contexts
than pop hooks.
Songs from “About Time” were performed that wrap his distinctive
blue-eyed soul in the rich Latin and Caribbean influences familiar to
the fans of Carlos Santana and world music. Veteran jazz guitarist and
current Winwood band mate/ songwriting collaborator Jose Neto (Airto
Moreira & Flora Purim) lighted an evocative gypsy fire beneath “Cigano”,
“Domingo Morning” and the slow burning “Silvia”. Along with Neto,
Winwood surrounded himself with a first rate band that included Walfredo
Reyes Jr (Santana, Traffic). on the drums, Randall Bramblett on sax and
flute, and Edson DaSilva on congas and percussion.
Steve Winwood
Photo courtesy of
www.stevewinwood.com
The set mixed new stuff from “About Time” and classics from throughout
his career. A breezy pop version of the Blind Faith classic “Can’t Find
My Way Home” was performed with Winwood playing a Fender Telecaster
processed to sound like an acoustic. His vocals sounded strong
especially for a 59 year old man. From the classic 1970 Traffic album
“John Barleycorn Must Die” Winwood rendered a poignant version of “Who
Knows What Tomorrow May Bring” which seems even more prophetic now in
this age of terrorism. A new song from “About Time” called “Bully”
featured a killer wah-drenched guitar solo from Jose Neto. Winwood
rendered a beautiful version of “Back In The High Life Again” playing a
heart- warming mandolin. From there it was all the way back to 1967 for
a standout “Dear Mr. Fantasy” (a song that was Britain’s answer to
Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man”) with Winwood laying down a surprisingly
ferocious and powerful guitar solo. This was the absolute highlight of
the show and received one of the many standing ovations from this
delighted crowd.
Winwood also performed a rousing version of his hit song “Higher Love”
and the classic Robert Johnson blues tune “Crossroads”. His show closer
before the encore was from the new album and was actually a cover of the
early 70s soul classic from one hit wonder Timmy Thomas “Why Can’t We
Live Together”. Winwood being the consummate professional that he is
ended the show by going full circle back to his roots ending with The
Spencer Davis worldwide hit “Gimme Some Lovin”.
It was a sweet show. If you missed him this time, check out his
concerts, especially if he comes back to the Joint, which is a
delightful venue.
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