In Memoriam: Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott Heron passed away on May 27th.

His music was part of the vibrant collage of growing up in NYC during the 1970s.  THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED and THE BOTTLE seemed to tap directly into what I was seeing through my own two eyes.  Yet I never appreciated his music until I attended Fisk University.  My roommate, Talip Salim (Carl Waller) seemed to have all of his records.  Gil Scott-Heron also visited Fisk twice, once in my freshman year and once during my senior year.  In fact, on his second visit I ran into him in the bathroom; he had just gotten off a delayed flight and was splashing water on his face before going on stage.

My third chance to see him was in Tampa, Florida in 1990, in the Tampa Theater.  He came with just himself.  Yet with a borrowed electric piano and help from the drummers of the opening act, he brought us all to our feet with his artistry.  Two years ago, I attended a funeral in St. Petersburg; at the wake, I met friends old and new who remembered that show.  We mused and sang and reminisced about the life of this great artist.

If you have ideas, share them; if you have a poem, write it down and give it to someone; if you have a vision, then prophesy; if you have a song, then sing.

Rest in Peace, brother.  Rest in Peace.

What are your mentors saying?

Mr. John L. Motley passed away on Sunday, April 23, 2011.

Mr. Motley was the long time former conductor of New York City's All City Chorus.  I was privileged to sing in the Bass section under him from 1975 to 1979.  In addition, I was a member of his various off-shoot affiliations, the All City Concert Choir and the United Nations Singers.  He was an intriguing man:  Demanding, disciplined yet also funny and kind.  At all times he displayed a respect for music and the arts that was unparalleled.  His resume showed it.  My own feeble memory touches upon only some of his past accomplishments:  He was a student / friend of the late Hall Johnson, the composer/arranger of Negro spirituals; accompanist to Marion Anderson; friend to Dizzy Gillespie; associate of Peter Wilhousky; one of the heads of the music division of the New York City School Board of Education.

Mr. Motley's foundations helped me to win a spot with the Fisk Jubilee Singers (directed by Mr. Matthew Kennedy; pretty good, considering the fact that I wasn't a music major).  My other mentors have been Mr. Murray Braunstein (high school English and fiction writing), Dr. Gladys Forde (undergrad professor of Speech and Drama), Mr. Bruce Wright (undergrad Creative Writing and Journalism), the late Loften Mitchell (playwriting in graduate school) and the late Dr. Stuart M. Kaminsky (screenwriting in post-grad studies).  Strangely enough, I can imagine all of these people asking the same thing:  What's next for you, Thomas?

I have a finished novel that I need to get into the hands of a publisher.  I have acting workshop students who are hungry to find their next project.  I have media projects that are in pre-production.  I have an audition coming up for a paid commercial.   I am directing a vacation Bible school play.  I have a dozen other stories - both secular and spiritual that need to be done.  Sometimes the hardest thing is to maintain focus.

So what about you?  Is there anything undone that you need to do?  And are there any important people from your past - whether alive or deceased - who are cheering you on?

Imagine that they are standing before you right now.  What are they saying?  And what do you need to do right now?

Always B Positively Positive!