From South Africa to South Carolina

Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - From South Africa to South Carolina

From South Africa to South Carolina
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Music CD Cover

Artist: Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1998-04-07
Music Label: Tvt
Soundtracks:
  1. Johannesburg
  2. A Toast To The People
  3. The Summer Of '42
  4. Beginnings (The First Minute Of A New Day)
  5. South Carolina (Barnwell)
  6. Essex
  7. Fell Together
  8. A Lovely Day (Bonus Tracks)
  9. Johannesburg (Live From Scott-Heron: Black Wax)
  10. South Carolina (Barnwell) (Live From The No Nukes Concert At Madison Square Garden)
  11. Save The Children (Live From Blues Alley, Washington D.C.)
  12. Let Me See Your I.D. (From Sun City: Artists United Against Apartheid)

Free Music Notes for From South Africa to South Carolina

Free Music Review: What's the word?
Hit: 5 Stars

The mid 1970s was an extraordinary period for Gil Scott-Heron, peaking in my assessment with "From South Africa to South Carolina". Having established his reputation as politically aggressive and relevent on his Flying Dutchman recordings and cooled off on "Winter in America", Scott-Heron and musical partner Brian Jackson assembled "The Midnight Band" for "The First Minute of the New Day". The band stayed intact for "From South Africa to South Carolina", and the strength of familiarity shows.

Perhaps the most notable is the ability for the three vocalists-- Scott-Heron, Jackson and Victor Brown, to harmonize together. Two and three part harmonies rise and fall together, with Scott-Heron's baritone, Brown's high tenor, and Jackson somewhere in between blending into a fantastic mix. Below then, Jackson leads the band from the piano, joined by reedman Bilal Sunni Ali, bassist Danny Bowens, drummer Bob Adams and percussionists Charlie Saunders, Barnett Williams, and Adenola. On 'First Minute', it felt like Bownes was the dominant voice, head and shoulders the most unique and sticking out-- now the band works together in a stronger fashion and provides a superb framework, performing ably in jazz, blues, funk and rock forms.

Scott-Heron again tackles a number of topics in various atmospheres, from the then under-documented apartheid in South Africa (the superb funk of "Johannesburg") to toxic waste ("South Carolina"), from optimistic laments ("Beginnings", with an absolutely stunning three part harmony) to a touch of pure hopefulness (the simply fantastic "A Lovely Day").

The reissue augments the recording with a trio of live tracks-- fantastic readings of "South Carolina", "Johannesburg" and "Save the Children" (from "Pieces of a Man", several years earlier) and the anti-apartheid benefit piece "Let Me See Your I.D.", featuring Scott-Heron prominently amid a number of rappers and the trumpet of Miles Davis. The recording is also remastered and sounds fantastic.

This may be the best of Scott-Heron's catalog-- it all came together, the political vibe, the funky jazz aesthetic, they don't really get better than this. Hihgly recommended.

From South Africa to South Carolina Poster

Gil-Scott Heron pulled few punches on this powerful 1975 release, his second effort with the Midnight Band. The jazz here ("Summer of '42," "Essex") is hard, flint-edged stuff, dipped in funk and Latin percussion. The ballads ("Beginnings," "A Lovely Day") are pretty, and the lyrics (especially on "A Toast to the People") are potent. The Clash's Mick Jones, a fan of Scott-Heron's, once told Rolling Stone that "people would rather dance than fight wars," but "Johannesburg" and the nuclear-power-protesting "South Carolina (Barnwell)" prove you can do both at the same time. Bonus tracks include live versions of the latter as well as the in-your-face anthem "Let Me See Your I.D." from the 1985 Sun City project. --Michael Ruby

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