Steve Winwood [ tickets ] has more lives than a cat. The 57-year-old native of Birmingham, England, began his career in the mid-'60s as a teen prodigy belting out rowdy R&B as part of the Spencer Davis Group. He later joined up with Jim Capaldi, Dave Mason and Chris Wood to form Traffic and created some of the best psychedelic folk-rock of all time.

He also pioneered, for better or for worse, the super-group concept with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker in Blind Faith.

Operating mainly as a solo artist since the late '70s, Winwood has had his ups (1986's multi-platinum "Back in the High Life") and his downs (1997's "Junction Seven"). Recently, he's been adopted by the jam-band crowd, and now splits his time between playing for tie-dyed twirlers at hippie fests and performing in front of classic-rock lovers at winery-style venues.

Fans got a taste of all of Winwood's nearly nine lives as the singer/multi-instrumentalist rewound through the years at the Historic Mountain Winery in Saratoga on Tuesday (6/7). Winwood and his sensational four-piece band delved into the driving R&B of the Spencer Davis Group on "Gimme Some Lovin'," and came across like the missing link between the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd during jazzy jams through Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Freedom Rider." They provided an eye-opening take on Blind Faith's gorgeous ballad "Can't Find My Way Home" and visited the blue-eyed pop-soul of his chart-topping '80s solo work with "Higher Love."

Performing on a mountaintop that offered brilliant views of the San Francisco Bay and the lights of Silicon Valley, Winwood was in fine voice as he confidently crooned his way through the title tracks to 1982's "Talking Back to the Night" and 1986's "Back in the High Life." He showed a great deal of vocal range, handling "Can't Find My Way Home" with an appropriately gentle touch, and then tackling the classic "Crossroads" with barroom-blues swagger.

"Dear Mr. Fantasy" sounded exactly as it should: like one of the greatest rock anthems ever written. But "Higher Love" didn't reach the heights found on the "High Life," mostly due to the absence of a female voice. "Back in the High Life Again," however, was a triumphant sing-along that proved to be a true crowd favorite.

Winwood also did a great job on the keys, goosing the organ and delivering funky grooves, as well as on electric guitar, showing that Clapton wasn't the only guitar guru in Blind Faith. His best instrumental work came in the epic jam that swirled through the title track of 1971's "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys."

Jazzy, improvisational and powerful, "Spark" clearly illustrated why the Birkenstock crowd occasionally takes breaks from listening to beloved Phish tapes to throw on old Traffic discs. Wait until those patchouli-scented fans find out about this cat's other eight lives.