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The Last Great Traffic Jam

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The Last Great Traffic Jam on DVD may not be the truly comprehensive package it could be, but the DualDisc sets of Traffic Jam and Steve Winwood
Traffic
The Last Great Traffic Jam
Epic Records
2005

Steve Winwood has enacted some compromises during the course of his forty-year career—remember Roll with It and the beer commercials?—but he's never done a thing to sully the name or image of Traffic. The almost-mythic English band founded with hornman Chris Wood and drummer/composer/vocalist Jim Capaldi had its roots in a free- wheeling eclectic taste in music and a similarly improvisational means of playing and songwriting collectively that ties it directly into the jamband ethic of today.

Little wonder then that, when Winwood and Capaldi reformed the band in 1994— sadly minus Wood who had passed away a decade before the then 'new' studio album Far FromHome and a decade after the previous Traffic album When the Eagle Flies—they toured in large part as an opening act for the Grateful Dead. The iconic San Francisco band has played "Dear Mr. Fantasy often during its most recent phase of live performance, so the connection was enhanced even further as audiences, perhaps not so familiar with Traffic, received a stellar introduction and those who enjoyed both bands received a double bonus.

The release of The Last Great Traffic Jam serves the two important purposes, not the least of the two providing due homage to the late Jim Capaldi, founding member and drummer for the band who died in January of this year. In addition, by concentrating on live performance footage from the 1994 Traffic tour, it reinforces the distinction of this band, both in terms of the unique blend of English folk music, R&B and rock, as well as the open-ended approach to musicianship that helped them find such favor with the jamband audience (one show here finds the group opening for the Grateful Dead, whose co-founder and lead guitarist, Jerry Garcia, appears with Traffic on one tune).

Given the resources at the disposal of any artist availing themselves of the DVD format, it's somewhat mystifying there's not more to the package. There's no denying how artfully the performance footage is interwoven from soundchecks, different venues as well as different takes of a single number into a cohesive whole: you can't help but get a sense of this Traffic lineup—including bassist Rosko Gee, a veteran of its 1974 incarnation, saxophonist Randall Bramblett, who played on Steve Winwood solo albums plus Mike McEvoy on keyboards and Walfredo Reyes Jr. on percussion (he trades the traps with Capaldi in a couple instances)—of a single albeit versatile mindset as they traverse tunes as different as the bouncy rock and roll of "Medicated Goo and the ethereal likes of "40,000 Headmen.

The selection of songs from a fairly broad expanse of styles (based, interestingly enough, on only a half-dozen bonafide albums) presents an accurate picture not only of Traffic, but in particular, its focal point Steve Winwood. Quick cuts from the various cameras are a bit off-putting but do help illustrate how the band revolves around Winwood. Playing electric guitar much of the time reminds what a soulful passionate player he is, while there's not a single number that he sings that does not surprise in just how little his one-of-a-kind voice has changed in the more than quarter century since he first debuted with the Spencer Davis group in 1965.

As facile at the keyboards as the fretboard, Winwood sits at what may be his favorite axe, the Hammond organ, for a romp through SDG's Gimme Some Lovin, but also extends himself to acoustic piano for the mystical "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys. Though perhaps not technically brilliant, Winwood is a highly intuitive musician who knows how to set and expand upon a mood and, with the group following suit—Capaldi anchoring them with his gritty drumming— it's easy to discern the roots of the band's earliest jams in the fabled Berkshire cottage they lived in when they first got together.

Such nuggets of Traffic history, while not essential to the audiences they played for a decade ago, would be well served on this DVD but they're only hinted at in the snippets of commentary between performances. Such segments don't detract from the pacing of the disc, but you have to wish that additional content was included. There's not even an audio set-up, much less any historical information about the band's development (Capaldi and Bramblett both reference original sax/flautist Chris Wood) or more extensive interviews. Long-time Traffic fans, and perhaps new aficionados to the group too, may well find this disc wanting because the performances contained herein are of a high enough quality to make anyone curious about the group.

Consequently, The Last Great Traffic Jam on DVD is not the truly comprehensive package it could be. To get that you only have to go a bit further afield to find the 2-disc CD/DualDisc sets of Traffic Jam and an expanded edition of Winwood's most recent solo album, 2003's About Time. Between the concert recordings, archival footage and interview segments, you can then get a full picture of the past and current legacy of Traffic, even if some details remain missing(virtually no mention of guitarist/songwriter Dave Mason illustrates the ill will that remains).

As they banter together, Winwood and Capaldi are unassuming but insightful in recounting the inner dynamics of Traffic at the very earliest stages of its development, but give due credit, over and over, to the input of the late Chris Wood, assigning him recognition for suggesting the various eclectic directions the band pursued. This is the overview of Traffic the band deserves; one hopes future editions of the DVD may include this material since it makes perfect sense to be included there and not just to offset the superficial footage that does come as part of that video package.

Given all that, just listening to the Traffic Jam CD is not such a precipitous drop-of in sensory stimulation because the band is so good and the recording clear and full. "Light Up or Leave Me Alone a latter-day signature song (Winwood still performs it) with Capaldi as singer, goes on a bit too long, but it is in the band's funky wheel-house and they play it for all it's worth. Yet its rolling groove is too similar to "Gimme Some Lovin' —arguably a superior song. The latter tune would have sufficed in pure musical terms, yet it does not sufficiently spotlight Capaldi, and homage to him is, to a great extent, the raison d'etre for this release.

The acoustic guitar at the core of "John Barleycorn Must Die may be the pinnacle of the collection, if for no other reason than the shots of Winwood and Capaldi on the DVD singing together at their mikes. Garcia's appearance on "Dear Mr. Fantasy, a tune the Dead performed on and off for some years, is something of an anti-climax, the founder of the Frisco band not at a peak of health at the time, preferring to remain in the background near McAvoy. He and Winwood trade some licks but never engage in anything too involved.

Cast in the same garish orange hue as the recent Cream CD/DVD package, The Last Great Traffic Jam may not receive all the attention as that other famous British band of the Sixties but in terms of musical integrity it should. Like his most recent studio album (adorned with three superior live cuts), Steve Winwood's current solo tour does justice to both his current musical approach, as it extends the rhythmic simplicity and open-ended instrumental approach of About Time (where video of recent performances appear on the DVD portion), at the same time giving his commercial success its due. Much more importantly, this activity links his history with Traffic to his music today. And, perhaps, tomorrow since—with a new label affiliation and plans for an album of new originals next year—Steve Winwood glances backward only to get a clearer picture of where he wants to proceed ahead of him.


Tracks and Personnel

The Last Great Traffic Jam

Tracks: Pearly Queen; Medicated Goo; Mozambique; 40,000 Headmen; Glad; Walking in the Wind; The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys; Light Up or Leave Me Alone; John Barley Corn Must Die; Dear Mr. Fantasy; Gimme some Lovin'.

Personnel: Steve Winwood: guitar, keyboards and vocals; Jim Capaldi: drums, percussion and vocals; Walfredo Reyes Jr. : percussion: Randall Bramblett; saxophones and flute; Mike McEvoy: keyboards and guitar.

About Time

Tracks: Different Light; Cigano(For the Gypsies); Take It to the Final Hour; Why Can't We Live Together; Domingo Morning; Dow that You're Alive; Bully; Phoenix Rising; Horizon; Walking On; Silvio(Who Is She?); Dear Mr. Fantasy (Live); Why Can;t We Live Together (Live); Voodoo Chile.

Personnel: Steve Winwood: vocals and Hammond organ; Joese Pire de Almeida Neto: guitar; Walfredo Reyes Jr.: drums; Karl Vanden Bosche and Richard Bailey: timbales; Karl Denson: saxophone and flute.


Visit Steve Winwood on the web.

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