Today we remember him with a mix of new clips and old favorites.
Gil Scott-Heron, April 1, 1949-May 27, 2011
new clips
“The Bottle,” live, Jamaica (Montego Bay, Reggae Sunsplash), 1983 Cool Runnings: The Reggae Movie (1983)
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“We Almost Lost Detroit,” live, Austria (Vienna), 2010
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Interview, England (London), 2010
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old favorites
Here’s a voice I didn’t know if I’d ever hear again.
Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here (out this week)
“Where Did The Night Go” (Gil Scott-Heron)
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“Me And The Devil” (Robert Johnson)
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lagniappe
I’ve had bad times in my life when I’d rather be somewhere else doing something else, for sure. But you get to my age, that shit happens. You get in trouble; you maybe lose some folks—a parent or a friend. Maybe your marriage breaks up, you lose your wife, lose touch with your kid. But what life does not have those things in it?—Gil Scott-Heron (in yesterday’s Guardian)
(Orignially posted 2/8/10.)
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I’m the person I see least of over the course of my life, and even what I see is not accurate.
—Gil Scott-Heron (New Yorker, 8/9/2010 [Alec Wilkinson, “New York Is Killing Me”])
Gil Scott-Heron, “I’m New Here” (2010)
(Originally posted 8/24/10.)
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It’s a remix world.
Gil Scott-Heron, “New York Is Killing Me” (2010), Chris Cunningham remix
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lagniappe
Here’s the original track, followed by a couple more remixes.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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With Nas
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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With Mos Def
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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langiappe
musical thoughts
In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.
Joan Blondell & Etta Moten, “Remember My Forgotten Man” Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago
George Inness (American, 1825-1894), The Home of the Heron, 1893
This image, alas, conceals as much as it reveals. It barely hints at the spell this painting casts when you’re standing in front of it. Great paintings defy reproduction. Go. Look.
The history of jazz, I once thought (like a lot of folks), is a story of progress. The shift from swing to bebop, for example, wasn’t simply a change; it was an advance. What bunk.
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, “Swinging in Harlem,” 1938
music clip of the day 