jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, Gilbert Scott Heron. Born 1st April in Chicago, Illinois in 1949 he is known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.

His mother Bobbie Scott, was an opera singer who performed with the Oratorio Society of New York and his father, Gil Heron, nicknamed "The Black Arrow", was a Jamaican footballer who in the 1950s became the first black man to play for Celtic F.C. in Glasgow, Scotland. Gil's parents separated in his early childhood and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee. When Gil was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he returned to live with his mother in The Bronx in New York City. He enrolled at DeWitt Clinton High School but later transferred to The Fieldston School, after impressing the head of the English department with some of his writings and earning a full scholarship.

After completing his secondary education, Gil decided to attend Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania because Langston Hughes (his most important literary influence) was an alumnus. It was here that he met Brian Jackson, with whom he formed the band Black & Blues. After about two years at Lincoln, Gil took a year off to write the novels The Vulture and The Nigger Factory, he was very heavily influenced by the Black Arts Movement (BAM). The Vulture was published by the World Publishing Company in 1970 to positive reviews.

Although Gil never completed his undergraduate degree, he was admitted to the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where he received an M.A. in creative writing in 1972. His master's thesis was titled Circle of Stone. He taught literature and creative writing for several years as a full-time lecturer at University of the District of Columbia (then known as Federal City College) in Washington, D.C., while maintaining his music career.

He began his recording with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970. Bob Thiele of Flying Dutchman Records produced the album. It's 14 tracks dealt with themes such as the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be black revolutionaries, and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. The album also included the spoken-word poem "Whitey on the Moon". In the liner notes, Gil acknowledged influences as Richie Havens, John Coltrane, Otis Redding, Jose Feliciano, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Nina Simone, and long-time collaborator Brian Jackson.

His 1971 album Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures and he was joined by Jackson, Johnny Pate as conductor, Ron Carter on bass and bass guitar, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones playing electric guitar, and Hubert Laws on flute and saxophone, with Thiele producing again. The third album, Free Will, was released in 1972. Jackson, Purdie, Laws, Knowles, and Saunders all returned to play and were joined by Jerry Jemmott playing bass, David Spinozza on guitar, and Horace Ott (arranger and conductor). Carter later said about Gil's voice: "He wasn't a great singer, but, with that voice, if he had whispered it would have been dynamic. It was a voice like you would have for Shakespeare."

In 1974, he released a compilation album The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, titled after his 1971 song of the same name and he recorded another collaboration with Brian Jackson, Winter in America, which has been regarded by many critics as the two musicians' most artistically worthwhile effort.

The following year, they released Midnight Band: The First Minute of a New Day. In 1975, he released the single "Johannesburg", a rallying cry for the end of apartheid in South Africa. The song would be re-issued, in 12"-single form, together with "Waiting for the Axe to Fall" and "B-movie" in 1983.

A live album, It's Your World, followed in 1976 and a recording of spoken poetry, The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron, was released in 1978. Another success followed with the hit single "Angel Dust", which he recorded as a single with producer Malcolm Cecil, it peaked at No. 15 on the R&B charts.

His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles. He referred to himself as a "bluesologist", his own term for "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".

AllMusic's John Bush called him "one of the most important progenitors of rap music", stating that "his aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging songwriting skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career."

Gil remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled I'm New Here.

He sadly died on 27th May 2011 from health issues relating to being HIV-positive aged just 62.

A memoir he had been working on for years up to the time of his death, The Last Holiday, was published posthumously in January 2012. He received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award the same year. He is also included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) that officially opened on September 24th, 2016, on the National Mall, and in an NMAAHC publication, Dream a World Anew. In 2021, Gil was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a recipient of the Early Influence Award.

Artist

Gill Scott Heron

Born:

1st April 1949

Artist Bio

Passed: 27th May 2011

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