John Barleycorn Must Die by Traffic

Steve Winwood was one of the most prolific musicians of the late 60s and 70s, working with many respected artists (and Eric Clapton). However, for this album he reunited with Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi to reform their old band Traffic for another spin around the musical block.

The result is a wild mix of folk, jazz and prog, reworking an old English folk song for the title track with the flute playing of Wood giving it a jaunty air. Given that there were only three of them playing on this, there is a fair amount of studio multitracking at work here but it all sounds fine to me. The overall result is an example of three talented musicians at the top of their game playing something of a mixed bag of musical genres.