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Gil Scott-Heron & His Amnesia Express

Legend In His Own Mind

    Critics in the early 1970s called Gil Scott-Heron the most important Black voice since Martin Luther King Jr and described him as a black Bob Dylan. "His poetry is with much muscle, with stiletto humor, with street talk, much of it justifiably angry and accurate," the New York Times wrote in 1975, marveling at the angry man from the Bronx.

    No wonder that decades later Scott- Heron was celebrated as the "Godfather of Rap". Born in Chicago, the musician, poet and pugnacious activist for human rights himself lived for years in the Bronx. Returning to his black roots, he died May 27, 2011, in New York's urban district Harlem.

    His legacy includes a fantastic concert Gil Scott-Heron gave with his band at the Schauburg Theater in Bremen (Germany) on April 18, 1981. The technicians of Radio Bremen were on site and recorded this ecstatic show.

    Gil's son Rumal Rackley on the release of this concert: "This album from a 1983 concert captures the spirit that permeated every performance throughout Gil Scott- Heron's travels in the US and abroad. From Europe to Asia to Australia to Africa, his work resonates at the heart and soul level."

    Live album of the unforgettable American soul/jazz singer, poet and civil rights activist Gil Scott-Heron (* April 1, 1949 in Chicago, + May 27, 2011 in New York), celebrated by the New York Times as "Godfather Of Rap". 112 minutes of exciting live atmosphere, captured by Radio Bremen in 1983, sonically refined by the mastering of Johannes Scheibenreif.

    STAFF COMMENTS

    Barry says: A legendary voice, unrivalled songwriter and unforgettable character, Gil Scott-Heron has been one of the most respected musicians and activists of all time. Here we get a real life, soaring performance from the man himself with The Amnesia Express. Astounding.

    TRACK LISTING

    We Almost Lost Detroit
    Angola, Louisiana
    Three Miles Down
    B-Movie
    A Legend In His Own Mind
    Winter In America
    Shut 'Em Down
    Washington D.C.
    The Bottle
    Johannesburg

    Klaus Schulze

    X

      Klaus Schulze about “X“

      Richard Wagner could also have been part of these musical biographies on "X". Wagner is particularly close to me because for me he was the first to create a synthesis of the arts. For instance he demanded for a composition a separate theatre where the orchestra could disappear in the pit. Therein I see an analogy to the synthesizer. Here the actual instrument is also disappearing behind a few buttons – you're hearing very much but you don't see much. But Wagner was a far too tremendous topic because then I would have had to make "X" a triple album. For this reason I had chosen only authors – except Friedemann Bach – who had influenced me very much.

      Frank Herbert's novel Dune almost was a bible for me at that time! Bavarian king Ludwig II was, of course, no author but his life is a novel itself. "X" also was film music – Barracuda – I had the budget so I could afford an orchestra. However, it was really difficult to master the orchestral score. I can actually write notes – I once took also classical guitar lessons – but to write such a score is a different kind of thing. All that music I could have played within a day but on the score I worked for four weeks long. Cellist Wolfgang Tiepold was a big help since I wasn't that experienced just to say a violin can really play what I had written in the score. In the middle section of "Ludwig II." We had to make a tape loop for those repetitions. The loop reached out across the studio and the kitchen, and then we looped it. Because the musicians dropped their violins when trying to play this passage live for 15 minutes. The tape loop of course was – typical for my compositions! – 20 meters long, haha.

      The bonus track "Objet d'Louis" is a live verson of "Ludwig II." using a complete orchestra. I did that in 1978 because I wanted to hear how this track sounds live on stage with an orchestra. I was on tour and also performed "Ludwig", and in Belgium there was an opportunity to perform the song in that style. A radio station wanted to broadcast the concert live. So I asked if we can do that with an orchestra. Then Tiepold rehearsed it a little bit with the orchestra, and in the evening we played it and it was broadcasted live. Now you can hear it again on the CD.

      TRACK LISTING

      CD 1:
      Friedrich Nietzsche
      Georg Trakl
      Frank Herbert
      Friedemann Bach

      CD 2:
      Ludwig II Von Bayern
      Heinrich Von Kleist
      Object D'Louis 


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