POP MUSIC REVIEW : Singer Gil Scott-Heron Is Back--for a Change

There’s a lot more gray in his hair, and his casual attire--a knit shirt and corduroy slacks with an airline ticket sticking out of the back pocket--hung on his skinny frame. But the changes in Gil Scott-Heron, who opened a four-night run at Concerts by the Sea on Thursday, are more than physical.

Scott-Heron is a keen-eyed observer of world events who has expressed his views atop a jazz/funk soapbox for more than a decade. The Scott-Heron of old would have served up a scathing analysis of Contragate, Judge Bork, South Africa et al. On Thursday, he performed songs that have been in his repertoire for years--not exactly the wisest move for someone whose observations of current events once had the sting of a fresh razor cut.

The tall, gravelly voiced artist, who was more than an hour late getting on stage (due to a late flight, he explained), proved adept at lifting the disgruntled spirits of the half-filled club. His four-piece band (keyboardist Kim Jordan, saxophonist Ron Holloway, guitarist Robert Gordon and drummer Rodney Young) initially looked sluggish and tired but by mid-set had worked up a fiery, energy-charged sweat.

Some of the set’s songs, such as the sad-edged “Winter in America” and “The Bottle” (a depiction of alcoholism set to a rousing, rocking musical attack), are still as effective as ever. Black contemporary music needs someone with Scott-Heron’s social/political insight. He still has the insight but seems to be lacking the passion that should accompany it.