R&B Pioneer Gil Scott-Heron, R.I.P.




Gil Scott-Heron, a pioneering talent in the fields of R&B and jazz music, and considered by many to be the "Godfather of Rap," died on Friday, May 27, 2011 of unknown causes. Scott-Heron had recently returned home to New York City after a brief European trip and took ill, passing away at St. Luke's Hospital.

While not a blues musician in the strictest of terms, Scott-Heron's influence on all facets of African-American creative expression cannot be downplayed. A poet by nature, influenced by the literary works of the Harlem Renaissance, especially those of LeRoi Jones and Langston Hughes, Scott-Heron came of age artistically during the tumultuous 1960s, which played heavily in informing his socially-conscious poems and lyrics. Scott-Heron released his debut album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970 for the Flying Dutchman label, a small indie focused mostly on jazz. Accompanied only by a percussionist, Scott-Heron fused the talking blues tradition with a jazz vibe and soul attitude to creative an entirely new and unique art form.

Small Talk at 125th and Lenox would include one of Scott-Heron's most notorious songs, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," a spoken word rant against the media and inner city poverty. The album would create a blueprint for much of Scott-Heron's later work, his songs reflecting controversial subject matter such as racism, apartheid, poverty, drug abuse, and social injustice. Scott-Heron would revision "Revolution" again on 1971's Pieces Of A Man album, which expanded his sound with the help of jazz talents like Ron Carter, Hubert Law, and long-time collaborator Brian Jackson. It was when Scott-Heron signed with Arista Records during the late 1970s and early 1980s that he enjoyed a modicum of R&B chart success, releasing four albums for the label.

Scott-Heron spent much of the 1980s and '90s out of the spotlight, touring sporadically, mostly in Europe. During this period, his music and lyrical style became a major influence on rap and hip-hop music, inspiring artists as diverse as Public Enemy, Common, and Eminem as well as producer Dr. Dre. Scott-Heron returned to the studio to record 1994's Spirits, which included his song "Message for the Messengers," which asked for rappers to become more socially conscious with their lyrics. Battling drug addiction for years, and spending much of the early 2000s in prison, Scott-Heron released his first album in 16 years in 2010, I'm New Here garnering universal critical acclaim.

Although Scott-Heron often eschewed the "Godfather of Rap" tag, his influence on rap, as well as modern soul music, is undeniable. In the end, Scott-Heron called his heady brew of blues, jazz, and soul simply "bluesology," and left it at that. It's a fitting epitaph for a pioneering writer and performer.
_{Quelle:http://blues.about.com}

Remi