Half of the power duo Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Brian wrote, arranged, and produced over 10 albums over an eight-year period. Time and time again, that music has found its way onto over 100 cuts like Common’s “The People” (from “We Almost Lost Detroit”) and Kendrick Lamar’s “Poe Mans Dreams” (from “Peace Go With You, Brother”).
Almost 40 years later, Brian is still building with artists as diverse as Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Midnight Hour, A Tribe Called Quest), vocalist Gregory Porter, legendary jazz bassist Charnett Moffett, and many others. Brian looks to both the present and the past for inspiration in order to honor the ancient tradition of the griot – the African troubadour of truth.
Jackson has lived several lifetimes within the music world, and he carries the wisdom of his journeys through every release. On his latest release, the Black Thought-assisted, jazzy, spoken-word piece, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Jackson takes one of Scott-Heron’s finest performances and modernizes it. With the help of Thought and producers Masters at Work, Jackson sends out a warning that echoes through physical time and digital space with an urgent message that has withstood the punishing, falling sands of life’s hourglass. The updated version of this poem finds Thought expounding on the sentiment Scott-Heron preached all those years ago. The arrangement brings with it a jazzy punch that pushes the song’s message even further into your soul, branding a section of your spirit to ensure you carry the ideology with you through life. Jackson’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is a beautifully moving piece of spoken word that bridges the gap between generations with a graceful yet drastic energy.
