The great Gil Scott-Heron recorded and released this selection as Lady Day and John Coltrane on what was later to became a critically acclaimed album, Pieces of a Man (Flying Dutchman, 1971). With it, Scott-Heron had moved away from his poetry and spoken word offerings and sang backed by a group of New York’s best. That album has been characterized as a progeniture of rap and hip-hop. Since that time the selection has been recorded numerous times. Most recently by vocalese master, Giacomo Gates (The Revolution Will Be Jazz: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron, Savant 2011).
On Billie
and Trane, the Saladin of sing-speak, hipster Tony Adamo takes the Scott-Heron
classic and, with a pulsing electro-funk groove accompanying, revisits and reinvigorates
the tune by adding his own hip interlude. While not tremendously different tempo-wise
than the original groove, this take is a stone locomotive - tough, virile, and
with balls-to-the-wall momentum. Adamo, with powerful vocalizing and hip
sing-speak adds his trademark jazz history-class original lyrics while sandwiched
by the original Scott-Heron verbiage. This approach is a terrific augmentation
of the original. San Francisco Area guitar stalwart, Chris Pemental delivers a
driving solo, perfectly in sync with both the track’s groove and texture. Adamo
himself handled the programming. The production and recording values are
outstanding.
Billie and Trane is yet another solid, provocative and enticing recording from Adamo. It is part of a future 2026 album release. And, it continues to validate and insure his legacy as one of our most fascinating jazz griots. Nick Mondello
1 comment :
Yo Nick and Bebop Spoken Here. Man, what a music review. A thousand hip thank U's.
Tony Adamo
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