Now, Gil Scott-Heron is one of those artists you are familiar with even if you have never heard his music before. Not only did his blend of poetry and jazz heavily influence all of rap and hip-hop, his phrase "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is tossed around regularly. Born in Chicago, he spent the early years of his life in rural Tennessee and then moved to the Bronx for high school, where we was exposed to the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance, which inflenced much of his poetic output to come. He published a novel, "The Vulture," in 1968, and then enrolled in college, but dropped out after a less than a year. He met up with famed producer/arranger Bob Thiele (ironically, the guy who wrote "What a Wonderful World") around this time, who helped him assemble a solid jazz/funk ensemble (featuring bassist Ron Carter, flautist/saxophonist Hubert Laws, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Brian Jackson on piano) to back him for his first album, "Small Talk at 125th and Lenox," recorded live in 1970. While maintaining the same backing band, he changed his style up for his next album, the 1971 "Pieces of a Man," which has Scott-Heron showing that he is a singer as well as a poet, his voice shining over Jackson's piano-driven arrangments on this wonderful studio album. The next year saw the release of his last album on Flying Dutchman, "Free Will," which features both studio and live cuts and shows that Gil is still riding strong both musically and poetically. His songs in this period range from the almost comical ("Whitey on the Moon") to the deadly serious ("Billy Green Is Dead"), but his hard-hitting social commentary cuts straight to the core no matter how he approaches his subject. Essential.

Small Talk at 125th and Lenox:
http://rapidshare.de/files/19322698/gshsta125l.zip.html

Pieces of a Man:
http://rapidshare.de/files/19317766/gshpoam.zip.html

Free Will:
http://rapidshare.de/files/19319024/gshfw.zip.html

Enjoy!