Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-Heron - Winter in America (Reis)
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Brian Jackson, Gil Scott-HeronEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 1998-04-07
Music Label: Tvt
Soundtracks:
- Peace Go With You, Brother
- Rivers Of My Fathers
- A Very Presious Time
- Back Home
- The Bottle
- Song For Bobby Smith
- Your Daddy Loves You
- H20gate Blues
- Pease Go With You, Brother
- Winter In America
- Song For Bobby Smith
- Your Daddy Loves You
- The Bottle/Guan Guanco
Free Music Notes for Winter in America (Reis)
Free Music Review: The season of frozen hopes.
Hit: 5 Stars
In 1973, after having established his reputation with three recordings on the Flying Dutchman label, Gil Scott-Heron moved on, to a recording for Strata East and to a different sound. Having honed his spoken word craft and an electric jazz vibe, evolution brought him to a minimalist approach. With sparse accompaniment (Scott-Heron or co-conspirator Brian Jackson on keys, Jackson occasionally on flute, and on five tracks, bassist Danny Bowens and drummer Bob Adams) and unnervingly strong compositions, "Winter in America" is a dark reflection on what Scott-Heron saw as the state of the country, that the seasons had past and winter had descended (he would alter compose a piece of this title, but at the point this was recorded, he had no intention of it).
If only Gil Scott-Heron would record music to reflect the current season our country had fallen in, I think sometimes we need it.
But this was over thirty years ago, and the music is beautiful-- some of it is dark, reflections on hope for unity ("Peace Go With You, Brother"), the horror of alcohol addiction (the unnervingly direct "The Bottle"), and the firmly tongue-in-cheek "H2OGate Blues" ("Watergate"). But there's a strong sense of nostalgia, of first loves ("A Very Precious Time", "Back Home"), and of hope for children (the stunningly beautiful "Song for Bobby Smith", "Your Daddy Loves You") that keep the mood shifting and make it easy to maintain interest in the record. Musically, its a lot of bluesy stuff, even the upbeat material has a sense of the blues to it, but it works well.
The TVT reissue cleans the sound nicely and augments the releae with a handful of bonus tracks-- an alternate of "Song for Bobby Smith", a live take of the title track (a great bluesy song that wouldn't've been out of place on the record), a great live take of "Your Daddy Loves You" and an extended and powerful take of "The Bottle" filled with hope, even in its darkness. These really do serve to nicely compliment the album.
Its not going to be for everyone, the production's kind of odd and the vocals sometimes feel jaggid because of this, but the music here is fantastic, and it is really a superb and powerful record. Recommended.
Winter in America (Reis) Poster
Digitally remastered edition of this 1974 album by the famed Urban Poet, a critically acclaimed collaboration with Brian Jackson. When Heron emerged in the early '70s, his unique brand of hard-talking street poetry, combined with soulful Jazz arrangements, paved the way for the Hip Hop explosion. This edition comes packaged in a slip case and features expanded liner notes. Charly.In the early 1970s Gil Scott-Heron's tough-talking jazz-rock came across like a slap in the face, fiercely filling the Establishment in on issues ranging from substance abuse to the poverty and desperation raging through the black community. Winter in America was his breakthrough, with pianist Brian Jackson's dense arrangements matching the words blow for blow on the uncompromising title track (actually a bonus cut), the stinging "H20gate Blues," and the grooving anti-alcohol warning of "The Bottle"--"Don't you think it's a crime," Scott-Heron riffs, "the way time after time, people hit the bottle?" Some of Jackson's music may now sound a bit dated, but the years have done little to dull what writer Nathan George called Scott-Heron's "uncomfortable truths." --Michael Ruby
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