Mr. Fantasy At The Crossroad’s Festival

Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007” DVD was recently released. There are some fantastic performances on it from Robert Cray & Jimmie Vaughan, Johnny Winter, John McLaughlin, Doyle Bramhall II, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck and Clapton’s band. But the one artist that blew me away was Steve Winwood.

Winwood’s first appearance on the DVD is a collaboration between himself and Clapton’s band on some Blind Faith numbers. When he started playing “Can’t Find My Way Home,” I stopped what I was doing and was glued to the screen. I realized I was looking at one of the most talented artists from the past 40 years. I had chills during this track. His performance of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” was also stunning.

His vocals were sensational. While most of his contemporaries have blown out their voices, he still sings like he did when he was in his early twenties. He hits every note and doesn’t have to change the pitch of the song to match his current range because he still has the same vocal range he has always had.

He is also a pretty accomplished guitarist. Anyone familiar with Winwood knows he is a highly skilled and gifted musician, but his lead guitar playing was dazzling at times during his Crossroads Festival performance.

Clapton’s Crossroads DVDs are highly entertaining musical adventures and well worth the money (they also support a great cause), but the 2007 edition is essential for the five Winwood performances alone. Steve Winwood’s appearance on this new DVD is a reminder of how the great musicians can inspire by simply playing one note. They don't need flash and a circus atmosphere on stage - because with the great ones, their music talent transcends everything.