About Time

Steve Winwood began making rock and roll history at the age of 15. He was the high pitched singing star and keyboard player of the Spencer Davis Group. Once the '60s arrived and swept over England, he started the band, Traffic, and continued with Blind Faith ? a super group consisting of Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker (both of Cream).

It is clear that Winwood always had an open mind to music. In the '80s, he really went pop, dabbling in that era's fuzzy electronic instruments and turning out a couple of hits. Along the way, he developed a love for world music and recruited Brazilian guitar player Jose Neto, who worked with Harry Belafonte in the '70s. He also got Walfredo Reyes, Jr., who has played with a host of artists, most notably Santana.

"About Time" is a superbly arranged album. It is lush with B3 organ, bongos, saxophone and guitar. Songs like "Cigano" and "Silvia" are brilliant compositions. The rest of the album is equally bright and uplifting and showcases the band's jam sensibility.

Winwood's vocals lack at points throughout the album but the veteran musicianship of the group makes up for it. All members of the band have worked both on the road and in the studio for countless years.

As artists like Winwood get older, their music tends to get stale and repetitive in style. This is untrue for "About Time," which is a progressive step forward in Winwood's long career of musical exploration.