Winter In America by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson

Gil Scott-Heron is probably best known for his beat poetry, but this album shows that he also has a fine singing voice that fits these jazzy numbers nicely. The laid back style is in contrast to the lyrical content, especially on songs like The Bottle singing about the pernicious effects of alcohol on the black community.

The highlight of the album is “H2ogate Blues”, a track that harks back to Heron’s earlier poetry style and is an excoriating attack on the American political establishment during the last days of the Nixon administration. This is an extraordinarily powerful piece that is unfortunately all too relevant now with a venal system using foreign wars as a distraction from their own personal corruption.

You really can’t argue with lines like:

“Watching the price of everything soar
And hearing complaints ‘cause the rich want more?”