A Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron

Musical hero Gil Scott-Heron died last May, and in this tribute publisher Jamie Byng, poet and host for the evening Lemn Sissay, writer/poet Salena Godden and ex-Magazine and Nick Cave bassist and film director Barry Adamson celebrated the life of this intelligent, spiritual yet troubled man, ahead of the publication of his self-written memoirs, ‘The Last Holiday’. A somewhat haphazard evening, that mirrored the sometimes haphazard yet endearing nature of Scott-Heron’s live performances, wasn’t helped by Sissay’s occasional lack of knowledge and his sometimes stuttering style of presenting. However, along with Godden, he delivered a superbly articulated spoken word performance of one of Scott-Heron’s greatest songs B-Movie. And along with the beautifully shot clips of Scott-Heron performing for the camera in the last year of his life, and Adamson’s reworking of a number of songs from Scott-Heron’s last album, the evening just about flowed and enlightened.

Pavilion Theatre, Brighton Dome, 8 May 2012

Rating: