With a grandfather who sang and played the church organ and fiddle; a grandmother who played Victorian parlor songs; a father who played saxophone, clarinet, bass, and drums; and three musician uncles, Steve Winwood couldn't exactly help but take a liking to music.
There is something magical and spine-chilling about the blend of his high voice - raw but never ragged - with the swelling richness of his Hammond organ chords. The simple, thrilling techniques that worked in early hits such as Keep On Runnin' still sound sweet in the new songs. And the closing Gimme Some Lovin' brings the house down.
As he did in the jazz-rock bent Traffic, Winwood synthesizes genres in his new songs, creating something that’s distinctively his own. Nine Lives begins with the contemporized acoustic country blues of “I’m Not Drowning,” an echo of Winwood’s early love for American blues. “Raging Sea” successfully blends Winwood’s soulful singing and Hammond organ with Brazilian native Jose Neto’s guitar.