Called “the black Bob Dylan,” African-American poet, musician and author Gil Scott-Heron will be making his performing debut in Israel on May 25 at Tel Aviv’s Barby club. Rising to prominence in the 1970s with a fusion of spoken word, jazz, blues and soul focusing social and political issues, the 62-year-old Scott-Heron’s proto-rap style was a forerunner of the hip hop revolution. In addition to galvanizing a generation of young black Americans with albums like The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Scott-Heron also reached a mainstream audience, performing the anti-nuclear “We Almost Lost Detroit” at the 1979 No Nukes concert in New York with Bruce Springsteen and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Scott-Heron’s career has been sidetracked for many years due to drug addiction and prison sentences, but he’s pushing forward with a new album, I’m New Here, and hoping to recapture some of the energy that made him such a visionary artist.
(photo credit: Adam Turner)