Record review: Steve Winwood, "Nine Lives

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By NICOLE PENSIERO / Philadelphia Inquirer

3 stars

Five years after his acclaimed indie release, “About Time,” Steve Winwood has returned to the majors with “Nine Lives,” but fear not: He’s made minimal concessions to the pop commercialism that wilted much of his mid-’90s output. “Nine Lives” is a muscular, genre-jumping collection that has the understatedly talented Winwood exploring everything from Latin rhythms (“Secrets“) to acoustic blues (“I’m Not Drowning“) — and even offering a nod to his past with the Traffic-y flute-and-organ jam “At Times We Do Forget.” Winwood’s bandmates — particularly saxophone player/flutist Paul Booth and percussionist Karl Vanden Bossche — are given plenty of sonic wiggle room, enhancing the expansive arrangements that give songs like “Dirty City” (featuring Eric Clapton) and “Raging Sea” a loose but structured vibe. Winwood lays down plenty of funky guitar and Hammond organ licks throughout, but his greatest instrument remains the soulful, soaring vocals that first brought him fame as a teenager more than 40 years ago.