Have the new Steve Winwood yet, if not you should give it a listen
Nine Lives is Winwood's new album and it is very good. This isn't Higher Love, no rhythm machine or large production, it's Winwood with his Hammond, some drums, lot's of the bongo accompaniment, some electric and some acoustic guitar depending on the song, some are void of guitar all together. Mix all this in with some fine song writing and you get Nine Lives. Clapton does a solo on one song I found so don't let that aspect go too far but Jose Pires de Almieda Neto does a fine job on the rest of guitars. A couple songs even has flute. Unfortunately, for Winwood I don't know where this album will fit in the scheme of radio to get the recognition it deserves. It's not commercial enough to make AC, but maybe if the programmer was adventurous, not heavy enough to make the Rock stations. Those who discover it though will find a fine collection of Winwood's best since his Traffic days. Another thing I really appreciate about this album the songs are different enough from each other to make this a good listen all the way through. With that being said though they all pretty much have Winwood's pace to them which isn't bad, it's just a great turn it on, kick back and listen album.