As one of the most powerful jazz-poets of his day Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson produced some stunning albums in the early 70s (The Revolution Will Not Be Televised and From South Africa To South Carolina) and one of the most brilliant jazz-funk anthems ever in, ‘The Bottle’.

Of course, like some wicked act of god, Gil found the bottle (and more) so it was only a matter of time before everything fell apart (see Matthew Daniel’s with Brian Jackson of a couple of years ago HERE). Then it’s with some irony, the first single from the forthcoming album is a cover of Robert Johnson’s ‘Me And The Devil’ (with Damon Albarn on keyboards). There are two versions, a scary minimal dark electronic hip hop track and a lush orchestra version.

On the evidence of this one track, his voice is undiminished in intensity and the album (I’m Here Now produced by XL’s head honcho, Richard Russell) is truly impressive (see review HERE).

Perhaps with a free South Africa hosting the World Cup, the man that sung about ‘Johannesburg’ (years before Jerry Dammers and Next Stop… Soweto) and as Scott-Heron’s dad was the first black player at Celtic FC, it’s an appropriate time for his return in 2010.

Oh yes, the revolution will be televised.

Forthcoming Dates:
Royal Festival Hall - Gil Scott-Heron + Speech Debelle (20 April only)
Tuesday 20 April 2010 - Saturday 24 April 2010 Book tickets now £27.50 £25 £22.50
www.southbankcentre.com

Reviewed: Gil Scott-Heron - Me And The Devil (XL Recordings) Release date: 22nd February 2010
Tracklisting:
1 Me And The Devil (3:38)
2 Me And The Devil (NYC Orchestral Version) (3:04)

Links:
gilscottheron.com
www.xl-recordings.com
Gilles Peterson “Gil Scott-Heron on Newsnight tonight “The legendary godfather of rap returns” 10:09 AM Nov 16th, 2009 from TweetDeck
BBC 4: Today: Thursday 4th February @ 0742 : The godfather of rap Gil Scott-Heron is back with his first new studio album for 15 years. The performance poet and singer responsible for hard-hitting songs like The Bottle, B Movie and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised has spent much of the past decade oscillating between jail and rehab centres. Correspondent Mark Coles spoke to the musician about his comeback. http://news.bbc.co.uk/today
Gilles Peterson : 6th January 2010 :: SBTRKT & Sampha Live Set
Gil Scott-Heron - New York Is Killing Me (XL)
Gilles Peterson : 10th February 2010 :: Backstage At The Worldwide Awards
Gil Scott-Heron - Home Is Where The Hatred Is (Acoustic)
Gil Scott-Heron - Winter In America (Acoustic) (XL)
Gil Scott-Heron - I’m New Here (XL)
jimmyscottofficialwebsite.org