Home Is Where the Hatred Is

Even though Gil Scott-Heron was considered to be the oldest of the old-guard — the first sprouted seed of rap and hip-hop — it’s refreshing to hear him singing throughout most of this 2008 live recording. Home Is Where the Hatred Is opens with him crooning the title-track over a solid jazz-funk ensemble before prefacing the similarly groovy “Johannesburg” (check out the cool vintage organ parts grinding on this one) with a praising of Nelson Mandela. Following a five-minute spoken-word intro on the importance of spirituality in music, standout track “The Spirit” grooves hard for nearly 15 minutes recalling some king of feverish Sunday morning church jam. Scott-Heron sounds inspired by What’s Going On-era Marvin Gaye on the soulful “Save the Children.” Aside from the verses of “Spacesong” Scott-Heron doesn’t perform any of his spoken-word staples like “Whitey On the Moon” or “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” but his poignant socio-political on-stage banter between songs almost makes up for it.