News

When Clapton and Winwood converged in London last week for rehearsals — with an all-star backing band consisting of bassist Willie Weeks, keyboardist Chris Stainton and drummer Ian Thomas — they decided to choose songs from each other’s catalogs to jam on. “There’s some perspective material that’s quite intricate and tricky and has got a lot of stuff going on,” Winwood told Rolling Stone before the gig. “And in some ways it’s best to head for simpler territory and then let the performance take over. Otherwise you spend all your time trying to remember bits and remember parts. So we’ve kind of erred a little bit on the simpler side. There’s a shed-load of material and we don’t have time to do all. We’ve honed it down and kept things that are better and more enjoyable to play.”

In The Press:

"The musicians, who formed Blind Faith after Cream and Traffic dissolved, opened the show with Had to Cry Today, from the 1969 supergroup's sole, self-titled album. Vocally, Winwood took the lead with his keening tenor and embellished Clapton's muscular riffing with his own lyrical guitar work. Winwood was again at the fore on Blind Faith's Presence of the Lord."
--Elysa Gardner, USA Today