MUSIC HISTORY: Steve Winwood (In Concert)

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Steve Winwood.

Concert Review

(November 2003)

Steve Winwood: Different Light, More Great Music

The Beacon Theatre, New York City / October 9th, 2003

Winwood Shines On Tour To Support New Album

Steve Winwood brought his new band to the Beacon Theatre in New York last month, in support of his new album -- released this past May -- About Time. Every moment was a true triumph. Skillfully reinterpreting powerful works by Traffic, Blind Faith, Winwood solo efforts, and the Spencer Davis Group among songs from the new album, Winwood confirmed his skill as a top-notch singer, organist, guitarist, and songwriter.

The band’s gear was assembled on the Beacon stage in a semi-circle, Winwood’s organ on the left, drum kit on the right, guitar amps, percussion rack, and sax and flute stands filling the space in between: a stage set-up that telegraphed the spirit of interaction that was to come. Winwood strolled unceremoniously on stage, looking thin and fit. Seated at the organ, he began playing the quiet hymn-like introduction to Traffic’s “Pearly Queen,” and with the crack of drummer Walfredo Reyes’ snare, the band kicked in behind him, fueling the 1968 song from Traffic’s second album with a crisp and vital energy that was current, relevant and new – it could easily have been a track from the latest record.

Yet there was also a sense of throwback to the performance, and not at all in a bad way. The entire concert itself was more of a reminder of when bands, rife with true musicianship and a passion to play, would convene on stage to experiment, to solo, to play hard and bluesy, then soft and pretty; whiling through the dynamicism of the music, influences in tow but new phrasing and personal subtleties on display. The audience responded rapturously, their recognition of each song (“The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys,” “Empty Pages”) a confirmation of what was right and real about those songs to begin with.

Forget the mere reaffirmation doled out by aging performers with nothing truly new to offer (yet still regularly sought by concert attendees). Winwood somehow manages to transcend and sidestep that whole scenario. This was Winwood simply playing the songs that he’d gotten together in the country with Jim Capaldi and (the much missed) Chris Wood, and playing them well, with the conviction and energy that has rarely ever been missing from this shy British man with the voice of a soulful, passionate bluesman at least twenty-years his senior. People lept to their feet when Winwood started the jazzy keyboard riffing of Traffic’s “Glad,” and the band was sharp and agile, matching the song’s demands with strong solos and tight interplay. It wasn’t about mere recognition; it was unbridled appreciation.

Clearly Traffic is the model here, and that band's music and aesthetic more than hold up. His new band consists of Randall Bramblett on flute and saxophone, Edson da Silva on percussion, Walfredo Reyes on drums, and guitarist Jose Neto, all of whom are clearly more interested in reinterpreting the material (via the same instrumentation) than duplicating past routes of expression. Yet Bramblett skillfully managed to elicit the tasteful, intuitive spirit of Chris Wood (who died in 1983) through both his saxophone and flute, which indicated more about the rightness of Wood’s parts and approach than suggesting any lack of inventiveness. In fact, Bramblett’s solos were quite the contrary: focused, succinct, and thoughtful; he’s a masterful musician, a pleasure to hear.

The same of course, can be said of Winwood. The careful balance of his understated demeanor and monstrous musicianship is clear whenever he steps to a mike and delivers a vocal line, which is always smooth and both perfectly placed and executed. That famous voice still carries a vulnerability and sensitivity that conveys his humanity in a truly universal sense; one seems to really feel what he’s feeling. When he stepped out from behind his Hammond C-3 organ to play the folky, propulsive guitar figure in “Can’t Find My Way Home,” you remember just how good the guy is as a guitar player. While perhaps by now up for “old chestnut” status, “Dear Mr. Fantasy” was still staggering. Winwood’s leads on his Stratocaster were blistering wails of molten psychedelic blues. Needless to say there are few who can summon the range out of a Hammond organ the way that Winwood can: jazzy and tentative one minute, surging and ballsy the next.

The material from Winwood’s latest solo album (his first since 1997’s Junction Seven) more than held its own next to older works. Stylistically, the new songs are throwbacks to the organ-centered work of Traffic and/or the Spencer Davis Group, with Latin percussion -- very reminiscent of Santana –- and extended organ and guitar soloing to the fore. It’s really as if Traffic took a foray into a fusion of accentuated world music and percussion after 1970’s John Barleycorn Must Die, and it comes off fresh and soulful. "Cigano (for The Gypsies)" is clearly a contender for the ranks of great Winwood songs, and a strong vehicle for live performance.

The single ("Different Light") sounds very much like updated, reconstituted Traffic, and "Silvia (Who Is She?)" – with a riff similar to that in Led Zeppelin’s “Ten Year’s Gone” -- may be one of Winwood's best solo tracks ever. It’s truly superb, and was much missed at the Beacon performance (though Winwood has apparently performed it at other gigs). Clearly this band had no trouble reaching the same heights in a live setting that were achieved on the studio takes, including a pertinent cover of the 1972 Timmy Thomas hit, “Why Can’t We Live Together.” Even more selections from the new album would have been welcome. Brazilian guitarist Jose Neto showed his fiery versatility on both the new and older material, taking emotive solos with backing from Winwood’s organ, and Bramblett’s ostinato sax figures.

Winwood’s slicker eighties solo work came off more real and less produced within this framework: “Back In the High Life” (rendered nicely by Winwood on mandolin) showed more of its folk underpinnings than its studio incarnation, and was much better for it. The same could be said of “Higher Love,” which somehow seemed more aspirant, more sincere.

Somehow, for a few hours, Steve Winwood managed to make a small theatre-full of people in New York forget about rock’s loss of integrity, relevance, and direction, not to mention the other problems in these troubled times. And while escapism isn’t always the greatest gift, sometimes the way in which someone succeeds in taking you somewhere else can be truly priceless.

Set List:

Pearly Queen / Different Light / Cigano (For the Gypsies) / Empty Pages / Can't Find My Way Home / Walking On / Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring / Higher Love / Glad / Freedom Rider / Back In The High Life / Dear Mr. Fantasy / The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys / Why Can't We Live Together (Encore) / Gimme Some Lovin' (Encore)

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