Winter in America is a studio album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and keyboardist Brian Jackson. It was recorded in September to October 1973 at D&B Sound Studio in Silver Spring, Maryland, and released in May 1974 by Strata-East Records. Scott-Heron and Jackson produced the album in a stripped-down fashion, relying on traditional African and R&B sounds, while Jackson's piano-based arrangements were rooted in jazz and the blues. The subject matter on Winter in America deals with the African-American community and inner city in the 1970s.
The album serves as Scott-Heron and Jackson's debut release for Strata-East, following a dispute with their former label and departure. It proved to be their sole release for the independent jazz label. Upon its release, Winter in America featured limited distribution in the United States and quickly became rare in print. However, with promotional help from its only single "The Bottle", it obtained considerably larger commercial success than Scott-Heron's and Jackson's previous work. The album debuted at number six on Billboards Top Jazz Albums chart and eventually sold over 300,000 copies in the United States.
While it was critically overlooked upon its release, Winter in America earned retrospective acclaim from several writers and music critics as Scott-Heron's and Jackson's greatest work together. Along with its critical recognition, it has been noted by several critics for its influence on derivative music forms such as neo soul and hip hop music, as many artists of the genres have been influenced by Scott-Heron's and Jackson's lyrical and musical approach on the album. On March 10, 1998, Winter in America was reissued on compact disc for the first time in the United States through Scott-Heron's Rumal-Gia Records.
Background After leaving his former label Flying Dutchman Records, Gil Scott-Heron signed with the New York City jazz-based Strata-East label in early 1973, accompanied by jazz keyboardist and songwriter Brian Jackson, with whom he had worked on his previous studio albums, Pieces of a Man (1971) and Free Will (1972).Bush, John. [ Biography: Gil Scott-Heron]. Allmusic. Retrieved on July 9, 2008. While some sources allege this may have been over financial or creative differences,Jean-Critin (2001), p. 2. Scott-Heron maintained the switch was due to producer Bob Thiele's unwillingness to give Jackson co-billing.Maycock, James. "Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson: Brothers in Arms". Mojo: 2003. By the time of their move to Strata-East, Scott-Heron and Jackson had achieved underground notice among R&B and soul music listeners, particularly for the political and social nature of their music's themes, as well as Scott-Heron's emphasis on African-American culture and social plight in his compositions.Holden, Stephen. Review: The First Minute of a New Day. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on September 13, 2008. Their musical fusion of jazz, blues, soul and spoken word styles helped them earn some notice among less-mainstream black music listeners at the time.Scott-Heron (1998), pp. 1–3.
Social circumstances and musical events preceded Scott-Heron's and Jackson's signing with Strata-East. After the decline of popularity in traditional jazz forms during the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power movement, black pride and Afrocentric sentiment by many black Americans emerged.Staff. "Black Nationalism". The New Encyclopædia Britannica: 256. 1987. During 1970 to 1974, the Black Panther Party organization had been neutralized and pan-Africanism came into vogue.Geesling, Don. An American Griot: Gil Scott-Heron Interview. The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved on December 21, 2008. Following the free jazz and avant-garde breakthroughs of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, a creative stasis among most jazz musicians set in during the decade that led to an eclecticism where no style or conception of jazz maintained a zeitgeist among players.Staff. "John Coltrane". The New Encyclopædia Britannica: 1987.Staff. "Free Jazz: The Explorations of Ornette Coleman". The New Encyclopædia Britannica: 1987. However, jazz fusion had gained mainstream notice for its stylistic adoption of rock and funk music, despite being the subject of controversy in jazz purist circles.Columnist. [ Genre: Fusion]. Allmusic. Retrieved on November 4, 2008. Highlighted by the works of Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock, and Donald Byrd, jazz-funk also emerged in response to the growing popularity of funk, leading to a trend of funk rhythms among jazz musicians formerly of the hard bop tradition as an attempt to reconnect with their African-American audience.Columnist. [ Genre: Jazz-Funk]. Allmusic. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. This factored into the popularity of Scott-Heron's and Jackson's work in the black underground scene, with the former obtaining a reputation as a "street poet", while his work with Jackson served as an early recording of jazz poetry.Dedina, Nick. About: Gil Scott-Heron. Rhapsody. Retrieved on March 20, 2009.
Scott-Heron had looked to expand on his socially conscious, pro black-oriented themes and independently produce a more conceptual album than his previous work had envisioned. Scott-Heron's and Jackson's search for more creative control over their recordings prompted them to sign with Strata-East Records. Established in 1971 by jazz musicians Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell, in response to major record companies' lack of interest in their recordings, the Strata-East label had become known for signing artists who recorded with diverse styles of jazz music with themes of social consciousness and black nationalism, as well as "minimal but eye-grabbing graphic design" for its releases.Moist, Kevin. Strata-East Records: Black Spirit, Black Power, Black Music. Dream Magazine. Retrieved on October 11, 2008.
The label had also been known for carrying out the management concept of "condominium". Originally conceived and penned by Cowell, it gave artists authority and responsibility over their recorded material independently, as well as the ability to assign the master tapes over to the label for distribution. Strata-East artists had more control over their recordings than major labels at the time had offered. Music journalist Kevin Moist later wrote of the label's "condominium" concept, "The idea was to try and develop an independent cultural space outside of the mainstream that could function self-sufficiently and be genuinely participatory for its members. The goal was to live in an engaged way where art, society, spirituality, and politics could all come together holistically in an integrated existence. That (sub)cultural renewal is embodied in the kind of music midwifed by Strata-East." The label's philosophy for artist management and recording ethic worked to the advantage of artists such as Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson. Scott-Heron and Jackson were able to release more aesthetically personalized recordings for Strata-East than most mainstream labels would allow.
Recording and production To record the album, Jackson suggested a small studio located outside of Washington, D.C., in Silver Spring, Maryland. The sessions took place in September and October 1973 at Silver Spring's D&B Sound Studios.Product Page: Winter In America (CD) . Tower.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2008. According to Scott-Heron, the studio's main room was so small that when the two musicians recorded, Jackson was forced out next to the cooler, playing flute in the studio's hallway while Scott-Heron sang in the main room. However, Scott-Heron felt comfortable in the small studio. Jose Williams was enlisted as the recording engineer for the album. Williams assisted Scott-Heron and Jackson, who were credited for production under the title Perpis-Fall Music, Inc., with production, and he engineered the album's recordings entirely himself.
The recording sessions served as the first production credit for Scott-Heron, Jackson, and Jose Williams.Daniel, Matthew. Interview: Brian Jackson. Soulisms. Retrieved on July 23, 2008.Jose Williams. Discogs. Retrieved on July 17, 2008. As the third unofficial collaboration between Scott-Heron and Jackson, the album's recording featured more of Jackson's input than before. Jackson recounted the experience in an interview for All About Jazz, stating: "He had this way with words and I thought to myself, 'People have to hear this stuff'. What I had to offer was the music and I figured if we can take his words and make this tribal knowledge rhythmic and musical, we can draw people to hear it."Columnist. Biography: Brian Jackson . All About Jazz. Retrieved on July 17, 2008.
In contrast to their Flying Dutchman recordings and subsequent Arista recordings, Winter in America utilized a sparse production quality and small number of sessions musicians. A small supporting line-up, featuring drummer Bob Adams and bassist Danny Bowens, contributed on a few cuts. Adams and Bowens, who studied with Scott-Heron at Lincoln University, arrived from the Pennsylvania-based college on the last day of recording on October 15, 1973.Columnist. Biography: Danny Bowens. DigStation. Retrieved on July 16, 2008. Scott-Heron and Jackson handled most of the vocals, songwriting, and instrumentation, and they were assisted by Williams with the production.
The September 4 and 5 sessions featured only Jackson and Scott-Heron playing and recording. The limited personnel during these sessions allowed them to rely mostly on traditional African and R&B sounds and influences, along with more creative and artistic control of the project. More than half of the album's songs were co-written and produced by Jackson.Billboard Music Charts: Winter in America. Billboard. Retrieved on July 10, 2008. His input also helped solidify his partnership with Scott-Heron, leading to further records together before their split in 1978.Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson. Discogs. Retrieved on July 8, 2008.
Music and lyrics
Similar to his studio debut album Pieces of a Man, Winter in America has Scott-Heron exercising his baritone and deep tenor-singing abilities with some spoken-word elements. The album served as a move into more conventional song structures, in contrast to the Scott-Heron's debut live album, A New Black Poet - Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (1970), which was composed entirely of spoken-word poetry, and the rapping style of his previous album Free Will. According to music writer Karl Keely, Pieces of a Man and Winter in America exhibit further departure by Scott-Heron from his prominent "angry and militant poet" persona. BBC Online writer Daryl Easlea wrote that it "captures Scott Heron at a turning point, largely leaving his heavier raps behind in favour of a floating ambience, with his poetry and song being illuminated by Jackson's superb instrumentation".Easlea, Daryl. Review: Winter in America. BBC Music. Retrieved on November 17, 2009. In addition, the album features more themes of social commentary, Afrocentrism and balladry than Pieces of a Man.Salaam, Mtume ya. Salaam, Kalamu ya. Gil Scott-Heron & His Music. Breath of Life. Retrieved on July 21, 2008. Winter in America features a more stripped-down production and melancholy mood along with songs that exceeded four minutes, as opposed to Free Will, which was criticized for its brevity and time constraints.Sanders, J.Victoria. Review: Free Will. PopMatters. Retrieved on July 11, 2008.Larkin, Colin. "Review: Free Will". Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music: March 1, 2002.