Veteran British rocker Steve Winwood started his career as a teenager in the 1960s as part of the Spencer Davis Group, and Traffic. Over the decades, he's established himself as a successful solo artist, and has relocated to the U.S. Steve has just released a new album, called About Time, the debut recording on his own Wincraft Music label. It's the latest project from the classic rock legend.
Steve Winwood was barely 15 when he joined the Spencer Davis group as a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He also helped to firmly establish the Hammond B-3 organ as a rock instrument. Steve wrote two Top 10 hits for the band, Gimme Some Lovin' and I'm A Man, then left to form another influential group, Traffic. With their swirling mix of rock, pop, jazz, psychedelic, and rhythm and blues, Traffic scored well on both the albums and singles charts.
Steve Winwood disbanded Traffic in 1974, and worked as a session musician with several prominent artists before emerging with a self-titled solo album in 1977. He started yet another run on the charts with tunes like When You See A Chance, Roll With It and Higher Love.
On his first new album in six years, About Time, Steve Winwood blends his signature Hammond organ sound and vocals with funk, reggae, jazz, blues, rock and Latin. Steve Winwood's About Time also has Cuban and Brazilian influences, thanks to backing musicians such as Joe Neto on guitar and Walfredo Reyes on drums.
"I've made the album that I wanted to make, and I followed my heart," Steve says. "My starting a label is the result of wanting to nurture this desire in myself, and it also allowed me to maintain more creative control, which is important to me." Commenting on his ongoing exploration of world music, he says, "Throughout my career, I've always been driven by a continuous desire to learn more about music. That includes not only learning about different styles of music, but also more about different instruments. I will hopefully then take what I've learned incorporating the new into what I play and write. My desire to learn has taken me on many journeys. The thirst has never been quenched, and so I continue to evolve as a musician." Steve Winwood is gearing up for an extensive U.S. tour, where he'll be playing material from his days with Traffic and the Spencer Davis Group, as well as his solo career.
