"He was the man who invented rap, "the black Bob Dylan".As lanky as a basketball player, he delivered jeremiads against racism and poverty, but with such nonchalant poise that he might have been a Harlem Globetrotter. The phrase 'the revolution will not be televised' has entered the language Jazzy grooves and deft lyrics took his records into the pop charts in Britain and the United States.
Alongside fellow music luminaries Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley, he successfully campaigned for the civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King to be recognised with a public holiday in the US. But then something happened to Gil Scott-Heron. The records dried up. He stopped touring. He was arrested and jailed over possession of cocaine and rumours circulated about his health.
When I mentioned Gil Scott-Heron to friends and colleagues, the ones who remembered him at all had the same question: "Is he still alive?" (BBC Website)
"Gil Scott-Heron was doing rhyming and spoken word over a back-beat as long ago as 1970," Russell explains. "The music that became hip hop and rap - that's what he was doing. He is undisputedly one of the people who invented that type of music. And it's gone on to be incredibly important, and affect the culture in an enormous way."
Here's a link to his promo material of his new album CLICK HERE
Gil Scott-Heron now on XL was @ Bowery Ballroom to see labelmates/remixers? The xx (now a trio).....
"When I got to the xx show at Bowery Ballroom last night (11/11), I was told by someone reliable that Gil Scott-Heron was planning on joining the headlining UK band on stage for some songs - both with them and on his own for a few. At first I thought that was completely random. Then I realized that the xx's label XL Recordings recently announced that they signed Gil. They'll be releasing "I'm New Here", his first album since 1994's "Spirits", on Jan. 11, 2010. And according to jamespenycate, "The XX are remixing the entire Gil Scott Heron album". You can listen to four song clips, and watch video of Gil in the studio, at imnewhere.net.
Ends up Gil didn't join The xx on stage, though I saw him there after the show and apparently he did sound check with them (it's unclear why the change of plan). Ends up Baria Quresh didn't join The xx on stage either. The band performed as a trio and XL confirms that Baria's hiatus is permanent.
Fellow UK musician Jon Hopkins opened the show with a set of solo electro that had him pushing all kinds of buttons on stage to the delight of those that bothered to check him out. "Hopkins's third album, Insides, was released by Just Music in conjunction with Domino Records on May 5, 2009." (Quote from the www.brooklynvegan.com)
Thought i'd post a few Gil Scott-Heron classics for those who don't know :-
"The Bottle"
"We Almost Lost Detroit"
"Johannesberg"