Gil Scott-Heron - genius, activist, brilliant poet, jazz-funk pioneer, rap pioneer, possessed of a beautiful spoken and singing voice, possessed of both a searing intelligence and a sense of humour. The guy's had his troubles with drugs in recent years, and we can only hope he gets it together and keeps going, because the world needs more people like him. And in combination with Brian Jackson he's just unbeatable. Gil for President! Brian for VP (with his hair in a bun)!
Vildgolia - excerpt
Some unreleased live recordings sound like they've been recorded from the venue's bathroom, then there are the quality ones like this one. This fantastic, powerhouse two hour performance was recorded straight from mixing desk at the Bottom Line club into a PCM, an early digital recorder, then transferred to WAV and then FLAC. It sounds great, and is now my favourite live Gil Scott-Heron album. It just needed a cover, so I made one. (Today's downloads have the WAVS, and also a 320kb MP3 version I've made from the WAVs)
This performance comes a year after the mostly-live album "It's Your World" and the week before the release of "Bridges". It's comprised mostly of tracks from the latter, with some favourites and one-offs added. These are not just renditions of album tracks - the Midnight Band is steaming, with long percussion sections and improvisation. So even if you've got all of these tracks, and all of his live albums, you really, really need this.
'Hello Sunday Hello Road'- excerpt
Gil starts with a ten minute monologue that turns into the poem "New Deal". He starts seemingly casually talking about the state of the world, and builds into a scathing media commentary, an africanist world perspective and an account of a black hostage taker in Cleveland whose demands were "All white folks leave Earth!". The starker and darker his commentary becomes, the more humour he brings in ... It's extraordinary to hear his summation of "change" at the end of the monologue and to realise the resonance of his discourse on contemporary thought and politics.
'Home is Where the Hatred is' - excerpt
This band is HOT - up to three people on rhodes with Brian Jackson at the forefront - check the fifteen minutes of keyboard and brass workouts on "Home is Where the Hatred Is" - three or more people on percussion under the guidance of Barnett Williams, latin-tinged trumpet solos from Delbert Taylor, great sax work from Allan Barnes ...
The percussion workouts here are insanely good. The band follow the monologue with the five minute percussion / chanting of "Gumbai", and there are six minutes in the middle of "The Bottle" with just latin percussion and voice - check this excerpt :
'The Bottle'- excerpt
I first saw Gil perform in 1994, around the time his comeback "Spirits" was released. He was pretty lost at the time, and kept wandering off stage to do ... something ... it wasn't a great show. But then I saw him in January 1999, also at the Bottom Line, in a special reformation gig of the Midnight Band with Brian Jackson - and they were spectacular. I think there's something about the intimacy of that club that brings out the best in people.
I could go on all day and all night about how good this 1977 concert is - but i'll hold back and say : just download it and enjoy it.
SIDEBAR : ALLAN BARNES (woodwinds & synth)
Some of these players had cut a limited edition jazz-funk album the year before called "Freedom Serenade" under the name Malone & Barnes and Spontaneous Simplicity. It's got a Blackbyrds/Mizells feel. Together with keyboardist/vocalist Johnny Malone, saxophonist Allan Barnes (who was also in the Blackbyrds) co-led the series of graduates from Donald Byrd's influential jazz program at Howard University. The album also featured other players from this live session : trumpeter Delbert Taylor, bassist Siggie Dillard and some guest work from Brian Jackson. Malone and Barnes also wrote the funky track "Disco Dancin" on the 1979 Taste Of Honey album "Boogie Oogie Oogie" TRACKLIST
01. New Deal - 10:20
02. Gumbai - 5.28
03. Race Track In France - 10.50
04. 95 South - 6.47
05. Hello Sunday, Hello Road - 3.51
06. It's Your World - 6:57
07. Home Is Where The Hatred Is - 15:55
08. Almost Lost Detroit - 7.22
09. Vildgolia (Deaf, Dumb & Blind) - 12:44
10. Winter In America - 6:54
11. Under The Hammer - 5:06
12. The Bottle - 16.02
13. Johannesburg - 5.44
MUSICIANS
Gil Scott-Heron - electric piano, vocals
Brian Jackson - piano, electric piano, clavinet, synths, flute, vocals
Allan Barnes - flute, tenor sax, synthesizer
Reggie Brisbane - percussion, drums
Siggie Dillard - bass
Tony Duncanson - timbales, percussion, djembe
Delbert Taylor - trumpet, electric piano (on "95 South" & "Home Is Where the Hatred Is")
Barnett Williams - djembe, congas
PRODUCTION
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
Live at the Bottom Line
New York, NY
August 20th, 1977
Recorded SBD - PCM - FLAC.
POST CREDITS
Covers and conversions by Simon666
Files reposted from Dexondaz with permission.
"It's Your World" link at Radio Transistor
"Bridges" link at Milkcratebreaks. "Freedom Serenade" link at Martian Shaker"Boogie Oogie Oogie" link at Groove Eternal
DOWNLOADS
It's a 2 hour show = big files
WAV (1.2 GB)
MP3 (242 mb)
MORE AT THIS BLOG
Gil Scott-Heron - "Live at the Village Gate" (1976)
Gil Scott-Heron - "Live at Berkeley" (1977)
Gil Scott-Heron - "Live In Bremen (1983)
Gil Scott-Heron - "Live At Glastonbury" (1986)