Sometimes gems are found in the most unusual places. Well, the public library isn’t that unusual, particularly our town library, which has a nice collection of CDs.

But there are rarely recently released albums. So when I found the new Gil Scott-Heron title I’m New Here, his first in 13 years, I was surprised and delighted.

I’ve always been a fan on Heron’s and his unusual and effective mix of R&B, soul, blues, vocals and spoken word that burst on the contemporary music scene in the early 1970s. His poetry, containing a mixture of political awareness, life experience, insight and character, penetrates the listener because of his distinctive voice with its tortured, raspy world-worn quality. There is no denying, his art definitely has been a major influence and precursor to today’s rap and hip-hop artists.

The album has a string of narrations, many interludes between tracks, that help tie this compact 28 minutes together for an overpowering listening experience. Heron advises on the back of the album to stop, sit down and listen to this music, not on a portable player, in the car or through any of the many electronic devices available today. Listen to it like his generation listened in a room through a genuine music system without distractions. You won’t be disappointed if you do. When you’re finished, share it with someone and do it all over again.

The opening narration, On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 1), sets the scene of Heron’s upbringing in the South with his grandmother, whom he dearly loved, in a house devoid of men and how he was “full grown before he knew he came from a broken home.” It easily segues into a most interesting interpretation of Robert Johnson’s Me And The Devil, with a hypnotic, trip-hop rhythm track that works so well, at once establishing Heron’s relevancy today and updating his sound. And oh that voice, unlike any other in the music world. Continue reading Gil Scott-Heron’s poetry resonates with relevancy →