Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Gil Scott-Heron - "Live in Bremen" (1983)




"We Almost Lost Detroit" (excerpt)



"Angola Louisiana" (excerpt)


Over two hours of Gil Scott-Heron and his Amnesia Express, live at the Kulturzentrum Schauburg in Bremen, Germany, April 18th, 1983.

Worth it alone for the Gil's opening solo voice-and-rhodes performances of "We Almost Lost Detroit", "Angola Louisiana" and "Three Miles Down", the last of these featuring a similar singalong to one I remember taking part in when I last saw him perform in 1998.

There's an intimacy in these three tracks that I haven't picked up from the other bootlegs. So this now becomes my second favourite GSH bootleg after the Bottom Line show.

Considering this has gone through a cassette generation, there's a good clarity to the recording of his voice throughout, even if he does complain at one stage that he must have "left his voice on Lufthansa". Bass guitar is a little far back in the mix from the recorder position, which probably explains the title that the original DIME seeders gave the set.


"The Bottle" (excerpt)



"Washington D.C." (excerpt)

In the band tracks, the reed and brass particularly shine through in the arrangements. There's a really superb, understated flugelhorn solo from Alonzo Bailey in "Better Days Ahead".

Lots of talk from GSH between tracks - he's still the only guy who can merge from spoken word to poetry to song without you noticing the joins, where the setup is all part of the song.

The seeders added a few other GSH songs from TV broadcasts, and a bonus live performance from Dana Bryant of Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not be Televised" from Jazzfest Berlin. Fantastic stuff! 




CD 1

1 Intro 1:26
2 We Almost Lost Detroit 5:42
3 Intro 2:13
4 Angola Louisiana 5:19
5 Intro 4:10
6 Three Miles Down 4:34
7 B Movie 16:28
8 Intro 1:03
9 A Legend In His Own Mind 5:14
10 Intro 0:30
11 Winter In America 7:49
12 Band Intro 3:27
13 Intro 1:26
14 Shut 'em Down 6:21

CD 2

1 Intro 1:24
2 Washington D C 4:39
3 Intro 1:29
4 The Bottle 14:00
5 Intro 1:08
6 Better Days Ahead 11:06
7 Intro 4:39
8 Johannesburg 7:12

bonus tracks:

9 Winter In America 4:34
"Ohne Filter" German TV March 1984 (broadcast date):
10 Not Needed / Statement 4:03
from "Keynote" (SAT1 - German TV) 1994
11 The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 5:18
Dana Bryant
Jazzfest Berlin, Traenenpalast, Oct 28 1993 (FM recording)

MUSICIANS

Gil Scott-Heron - vocals, keyboards
Alonzo Bailey - trumpet, flugelhorn
Vernon James - alto and soprano sax, flute
Ron Holloway - tenor sax
Larry McDonald - percussion
Kenny Powell - drums
Ed Brady - bass
Glen "Astro" Turner - keyboards, harmonica

CREDITS & BOOTLEG HISTORY


FM broadcast to cassette, cleaned and de-glitched by Langtang and Wolf.
Originally seeded at DIME by Langtang and Wolf.
Cover art by Wolf.





81 comments:

Anonymous said...

Basde on what I've listen to on the excerpt, I want to say wow! It sounds great and I'm looking forward to listening to the whole album. Many thanks.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! We Almost Lost Detroit is probably my favorite all-time Gil cut...I could listen to it over and over!

exilestreet said...

Simon/
Thank you so much for all this stuff!
Regards/

Neal said...

Thanks very much Simon for the Gil posts looking forward to hearing them. Saw him live twice around 1984/5 (I think) in Leeds & Newcastle really, really great gigs as I remember - saw him again in Leeds early 90's great but not really, really. Should have also seen him at a Womad festival in Morecombe but he got busted entering the UK. I bought the new album last week & was at first a bit unimpressed - this week listened to it a couple of times on a CD walkman - walking to work & have started to love it. Peace

Jazzjet said...

Thanks for another fantastic Gil session. If I knew your email address I could send you another live session by Gil and The Midnight Band in Eugene, Oregon in 1978.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for all these great music the you post on flac..I have been looking for a few R&b on flac.Thanks to you I found a gold mine, alone with some artist I would not have listen to.Again thank you

Simon666 said...

Thanks for the comments guys :)

Jazzjet, do you mean this one ?

http://dexondaz.blogspot.com/2008/03/gil-scott-heron-and-midnight-band.html

Jazzjet said...

Simon,

Yes, thats the one. Although my version isn't in .wma.
Its a good show.

display said...

Great post. Thanks as always.

DAVID SOUL said...

GIL SCOTT,JE A FUCKING GENIUS!!
SALUDOS FROM ARGENTINA.
WWW.BAILASIQUIERESMAS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Anonymous said...

Simon, Thanks for posting this! (Burningbluesoul)

Anonymous said...

Great post and this was unknown to me. Thank you.

Nick said...

Nice. The Bottom Line show is still in regular rotation, so I'm excited to hear this "second best" Gil boot! Thanks as always, simon.

Simon666 said...

Glad that people are enjoying this :)

Jazzjet, I like that show too :)
If you've got a better quality version, would love to hear it! My email is available on my profile (click my name)
thanks :)

Simon666 said...

Jazzjet again -
actually, email me at ssimon666@gmail.com
thanks :)

Flabbergast said...

my internet connection is shite today or I would be grabbing this immediately. Can't wait to hear it though, as per the usual thorough and generous write-up. And I agree with the other person who said "We Almost Lost Detroit" is probably my fave Gil tune. I am drooling thinking about him playing it alone (although I believe I have seen a more recent version on YouTube, it escapes my memory..)

This share makes me wish I never lost my membership at DIME due to inactivity. So it goes.

Gil has a new album out, I plan to track it down soon (has not made it to northeast Brazil yet...)

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for posting these Gil Scott Heron concerts. I remember my father taking me to one of his concerts in the late 70's as a child. Is there anyway that these links can be posted to mediafire. I'm having problems with rapidshare.

ish said...

thanks as always Simon!

Simon666 said...

Hi anonymous -
I'm very happy to spend hours getting these posts ready (as I do) so that you can download - but given a choice between me spending another three hours loading 1.2 GB of music to Mediafire, and you spending $9.95 for a one month premium Rapidshare account ... hmmm .... no, sorry.

trakbuv said...

This is a similar show to one I saw around this time where John Cooper Clarke (the English equivalent of 'Ranting verse' - check it out) didn't show up !! Which meant the show was heavy on the politics and less on the jazz - shame. Great stuff Simon as always.

Wallofsound said...

Just found the time to listen through. Wonderful! I've been a GSH fan since his earliest records, and this recording brings back so many memories of his shows over the years. His new record is worth getting. It isn't what you'd expect but it's got variety and Gil's voice is still there. Glad to see him back in balance.

Is the bass that badly mixed?

Thanks, Simon.

Anonymous said...

got part I, but part II seems blocked now. alas ....

Simon666 said...

That's really weird. Now they've all been blocked. It's a bootleg, for fuck's sake!

soulbrotha said...

Rapidshare has lost their everlovin minds! I will not be renewing my account with them. Simon, any chance you could re-up this on hotfile.com or mediafiles? I would greatly appreciate it and thanks for the share.

Simon666 said...

Hi soulbrotha -
Will do, but unfortunately I'm locked into the start of semester in a few days .. this is about 1.4 gb of material , so won't be able to get to it until after the weekend ..
S

exilestreet said...

Hey Simon et al,
Obviously things are different now w/ Rapidshit since they jumped into bed w/ the enemy, but the complaint has to have come from within the usual suspects..."the record industry that has ignored GSH for how long, while us tapers/listeners/whatevers have kept his cherished flame alive and passed it onto how many people who had never heard of him"...will stop here...I AM ANGRY *understatement*.
Can I quote a comment left not that long ago at a.n.other blog by Paul SchĆ¼tze or indeed at my own blog by Ken Hyder.
These are the artists themselves NOT the fugn RIAA or the record companies who let's be honest probably would have preferred if Gil had died, after all it increases record sales doesn't it?
As Simon said "These are bootlegs"
Unfortunately it IS only going to get worse...read the second half of this" article and weep...
Regards to you all/

soulbrotha said...

Thanks Simon. Whenever you get a chance. No rush.

Flashlight said...

Thanks for re-sharing Simon, you work really hard on this blog, cheers!

Unknown said...

Hey guys!Do u have some problems with sound between track 07(9:52)and track 14(2:04)??

Simon666 said...

No

Simson said...

Hmm....sound is muted. I downloaded stuff from all sources-everywhere is the same problem.

Simon666 said...

Well it's not vinyl or CD. It's a concert broadcast on FM radio and recorded to cassette tape 27 years ago - sounds pretty good considering.

*sigh*

270 downloads of the new files, a thankyou from Flashlight, one complaint about the sound quality ...

Bhowani said...

thanks a lot simon !

you won't believe it : it's the first opportunuty for me to discover GSH !

Simon666 said...

hey bhowani, that's cool :) you should go and check out the discography :

http://blaxploitationjive.blogspot.com/2008/09/gil-scott-heron-discography.html

they're all good

Anonymous said...

Much appreciated, thank you

Radek said...

Thanks a lot, Simon! The album is fabulous. You are right that it almost equals the Bottom Line show. I must confess I have been growing a little tired of all the GSH bootlegs, as most of them did not really seem to add anything relevant to what I had known from GSH already, but this one is definitely one of the few exceptions.

Simon666 said...

Glad you guys enjoyed it :)

Also, so nice to get real comments ... don't know about you other bloggers, but i'm rejecting about 15 spams a day at the moment ...

stewrat said...

The GSH stuff you have posted is absolutely the best - I've been waiting years for this! Thanks and Thanks again.

Markaz said...

Thanks for these - just grabbing them now. I never imagined so much bootleg stuff was recorded. Did these tapes used to be circulated back in the day or was it just a private collector thing.

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I am desperately searching the album "Imagination Flight" by Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble (Chaffey College, 1978) .

I was wondering if someone own this album.

Thank you for your reply and your amazing passionate and expert blog.
Good day.

Simon666 said...

Hi anonymous -
Copy going here :

http://cgi.ebay.com/CHAFFEY-COLLEGE-Imagination-Flight-LP-DJ-SHADOW-FUNK_W0QQitemZ120542220699QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_on_Vinyl?hash=item1c10e0519b#ht_1204wt_1167

If you buy it, please rip it and post it here :)

P.Stoychev said...

Incredible!! Thank you for sharing it!!
Soul Food

Brandon said...

Thanks Simon. Excellent set - thoroughly enjoyed it. I saw Gil Scott-Heron at Dingwalls in London in the 80's and this brings back the great memories.

Anonymous said...

Hi Simon
I would like to speak to you about the credits of the Gil stuff. Please contact me
secofent@yahoo.com
I want to help you update the facts & correct some info . Im speaking to the guys nearly everyday, all the best and thanks for what you are doing

Robbie Gordon

Rob said...

Hey Simon, I hate to tell you this, but the MP3 files have been removed.

Simon666 said...

Well, that's been knocked off twice now, someone obviously has a problem with it, so we'll have to leave it there.

Marion said...

THANK YOU !!!

oui said...

wow man, just got the info that i'm going to spin at a festival he's playing at, this summer! the legend is back with a band and i'm gonna be close around! i'm already in sweat just by thinking of maybe shaking his hand...

Anthony said...

Hello Simon, I really wanted to thank you for all the music you share, because you must have spent a lot of time doing this, and I'm deeply grateful!


One again, a very big thank you man, eventhough I could never thank you enough!

Peace!

DJ ZonattĆ£o said...

Simon

Options correct download link Gil Scott heron - Moving Target

http://sharebee.com/07a7f86c

Also of the and sampled percussion http://www.4shared.com/file/222640982/25760bb4/DJ_Zonatto_-_Sampleado_e_Percu.html

Simon666 said...

Thanks for the comments everyone.
And thanks for the links DJ ZonattĆ£o :)

ĆøשlqƦda said...

brother simon777,
thx for kind werds on me newfangled bloggish endeavor & likewise for the linkage to me nest. owl rightfully do likewise though i can'r imagine u need the assist. good god this place is fire & brimstone. daps
oq
holywarbles.blogspot.com

AlexD said...

Hey, you have expanded my musical knowledge exponentially. Keep up the good work.


Alex

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for all the GSH conerts. Just so him last Friday in Hamburg. Great Show

Anonymous said...

Much respect for all your great work

Anonymous said...

Simon your a God! Many thanks for the new Gil Scott-Heron stuff! I am going to see Gil live next weekend in Austria together with Incognito and Jamiroquai at The Nova Jazz & Blues Night! Isn't this a "Rhodes live on stage" overkill? This is going to be a historical event for me...

Simon666 said...

Sounds fun! have a great time :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you! This bootleg is great. You're right it's worth it alone for the opening three songs.

fretless66 said...

Simon, great job, and thank you.

Anonymous said...

hello dear simon,
your blog opened my ears for various directions of (old) music.
the rhodes in angola lousiana sound particularly nice to me.i ve been trying to recreate it but i dont get that thickness,could you help me out with some further information ,gear list / tips please ?i m running ableton and reason.anything like a website/forums will do ,thanks in advance.
ps. i cut that message down since it sounded very ass kissy.

Anonymous said...

Gil Scott-Heron - 92-08-02 Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO.rar

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=65WGTA9W

Anonymous said...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16924993

streaming interview with 3 solo performances

Anonymous said...

Gil Scott-Heron - 99-09-11 Knitting Factory, New York, NY

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HZEZCLJ2

Simon666 said...

thanks for these, anonymous

Anonymous said...

no problem Simon, thanks for these other shows.

Unknown said...

Please re-up MP3 version!!

Anonymous said...

Hey this is a really fantastic website, really loving all of the music you've got up here.
Could you please reload the mp3/wav files on rapidshare? Isnt working

Simon666 said...

Hi,
the WAVS are working fine.

troods said...

Always grateful Simon, for all you do for the music loving community - like me for instance. Hearing Gil live means a lot to me. I never had a chance to do that since I first was affected deeply by his work in the early '70's. His death represents such a loss to our tempest tossed world. I would love to hear him riff on the the current prez.
Thanks again Simon, so much.

pmar said...

Thanks Simon - great work

Anonymous said...

Simon, can you please re-upload Kulturzentrum Schauburg in Bremen, Germany concert. Thanks man! Awesome work. /elmiguel

Anonymous said...

Download works. Sorry ...

Again: Thanks a lot!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous! Thank you so much for your generosity.

Anonymous said...

Hi, any chance this can be uploaded to mediafire?

Simon666 said...

Hi anonymous -
Yes, you can download it and then upload it to Mediafire - that could be, you know, your contribution. How about it ?

Anonymous said...

Very good and hard work! thanks.
Paddy.

istrijan said...

hi, man is it possible for you to repost it, rapidshare mp3 are deadlinks....

would be great....

Simon666 said...

Sorry istrijan, someone keeps reporting the mp3s every time I post them (and had some weird emails), so as I said above, I'm not reposting them for a third time. For some reason, this person leave the WAVS alone, so you'll have to go for those.

Anonymous said...

Since I am from Bremen, this ist very special for me. Thank you, Simon!

Earl said...

Thank you so much for this, Simon!

thisisbernd@googlemail.com said...

Oh man, I found it. You guys can´t imagine how happy I am. I was 22 in April 1983 when I went to see Gil´s concert at the Schauburg in my hometown Bremen. Seated in the 3rd or 4th row. Unforgettable. Apart from his music Gil was a great entertainer. His intros were often sharp and witty. No wonder being a great poet too.

Gil had been featured by knowledgeable Radio Bremen broadcasting hosts from the late 70ies onwards (Peter Schulze-Carstens, Volker Steppat). That´s how I took notice of GSH. My kudos to all radio people who did that and still feature music like Gil´s on their radio shows (if you are happy to find them on air these days)