With these words, a low spark sung in a true and beautiful voice, Steve Winwood snared many of us a long time ago. Hindsight and an honest appraisal of their catalog reveal Traffic as the blueprint for much of what’s now known as "jam music." A series of stunning recordings showed an embrace of modal structures and a stylistic spread that embraced everything from English folk forms to psychedelic rawness to swinging, complex jazz figures. Building on the punishing blue pop of his work as a teen in the Spencer Davis Group, the group pursued its own road while still managing to connect with a mass audience. Rare is the person who’s never encountered a band laying into “Dear Mr. Fantasy” or “Gimme Some Lovin’.” Winwood's diverse, exploratory career includes the glimmering moment of Blind Faith, sessions with Hendrix and Muddy Waters, space flights with Stomu Yamash'ta and his smoother, listener friendly solo material of the '80s and '90s.
