Gil Scott Heron And His Amnesia Express - Tales Of Gil DVD

Recorded live at London's Town & Country Club in 1990, Tales of Gil sees old-school funk's most congenial, but also political figure in full smooth effect, backed by a band of jazz-funk virtuosos. The word "virtuosos" is intended as much as a warning as a compliment: those with sensitive musical sensibilities might struggle through the lengthy bass solo interludes. Otherwise, this is Scott-Heron at his best, mixing polemic with rare jazzy groove and between-song patter. No one was able to sugar the political pill quite like Gil. "Three Miles Down", a tribute to the... lives of coal miners, might come across as austere and hectoring in some hands but Scott-Heron delivers it sweet. Disappointingly, he doesn't perform his most famous song, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", his 1970 proto-rap against media airbrushing of the underprivileged, which establishes him as the missing link between 1960s black jazz radicalism and Public Enemy. However, he does perform "Johannesburg", bristling with new relevance with Nelson Mandela having been released from jail just weeks prior to this performance, and ends with the at once rousing and despairing "The Bottle", his lament for alcoholism, whose languorous, flute-driven funk earned him fresh popularity in the 80s. On the DVD: Tales of Gil is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio and the principal extra feature here is an introduction by British writer Kevin Le Gendre, who explains Gil Scott-Heron's contemporary relevance and role as Godfather of rap. --David Stubbs [show more]

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