I recall the first time I ever encountered the work of Gil Scott-Heron, I was in my mid teens and I had just borrowed a load of records, among them his 1971 release, Pieces of a Man from the public library on a whim (I had never heard of him before). I did that a lot back then – borrow whole batches of vinyl records during the summer vacation and listen to albums all week long. When I got home and slipped Pieces of a Man onto the turntable for the first time, Gil Scott-Heron blew my mind, especially with spoken word and vocal jazz tracks like “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” and “Lady Day & John Coltrane” (all video clips below) to name just a few.
Continue reading “Gil Scott-Heron – Me and the Devil (2010)”
Tag: gil scott-heron
Gil Scott-Heron at Wolfgang’s Vault
Activist poet and musician, Gil Scott-Heron’s musical career began in the late ’60s. He quickly emerged as a sharp, intelligent critic of contemporary culture, boasting terrific jazz-styled accompaniment. By the late ’70s, Scott-Heron’s sound had adopted a bit more of a contemporary R&B aesthetic, but his jazz roots remain clear. He hasn’t released any new recorded material since 1994’s Spirits, and in the early ’00s, faced prison time for drug possession charges. He has since been released, and as of early 2009, he is working on a new record, and still makes occasional live appearances.
Playing the Madison Square Garden stage on September 23rd, 1979, taking part in the famous series of “No Nukes” concerts organized by the Musicians United for Safe Energy, he reveals not just his politics yet a driving fusion between his worlds of jazz, poetry, and R&B.
Gil Scott-Heron – vocals
Robert Gordon – bass
Tony Green – drums
Carl Cornwell – saxophone
Ed Brady – guitar
Just click here to sign up and register for a free account to listen to this and other great concerts.
As an added bonus, the two following tracks are from Gil Scott-Heron’s seminal album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974):
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/01-the-revolution-will-not-be-televised.mp3]
Home Is Where The Hatred Is
[audio:http://www.killuglyradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/07-home-is-where-the-hatred-is.mp3]