Brian Jackson & Yasiin Bey / Cymande

An evening to bring the soul of the 1970s into the present, a sound that was political, connected to jazz, and the breeding ground for the hip-hop of the future. Featuring – on both sides of the Atlantic – the ever-flamboyant Cymande and the legacy of Gil Scott-Heron revisited by Brian Jackson and Yasiin Bey.

1/ Cymande

Formed in London in 1971, Cymande remained a hidden gem of British soul for many years. The common thread among the eight musicians who comprised the group? They all hailed from the Caribbean, whose rhythms and sounds permeated the three albums Cymande recorded between 1972 and 1974, steeped in a blend of jazz, funk, and soul. While they achieved considerable success in the United States, the group failed to find a home audience. Visionary yet overlooked, the musicians called it quits after the release of their fourth album in 1981. Over the years, a new generation of artists—from the hip-hop scene—rediscovered and sampled these seminal albums: unwittingly, De La Soul, the Fugees, and MC Solaar (with his hit "Bouge de là") paved the way for a comeback that felt more like a redemption. For the past 15 years, Cymande has returned to the stage and the recording studio, finally finding an audience worthy of its legendary status. Richly orchestrated, their sixth album – the beautiful Renascence (2025) – generously balances between spiritual jazz and soul.

2/ Gil Scott-Heron by Brian Jackson & Yasiin Bey

Novelist, poet, and musician, Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011) left an indelible mark on the history of 20th-century popular music, with a discography punctuated by classics deeply in tune with their times. This began with Pieces of a Man in 1972, his second album, which featured the hit "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Smooth soul and spoken word, politics and poetry work wonders on this album, more than half of whose tracks were composed with producer, keyboardist, and flautist Brian Jackson. The collaboration between the two flourished throughout the 1970s, encompassing a dozen albums where their unique blend of jazz, soul, and blues paved the way for the rise of hip-hop. And it is precisely with a rap legend, Yasiin Bey, that Brian Jackson is now teaming up to revisit the exceptional repertoire of Gil Scott-Heron, thus highlighting an obvious kinship between two artists who have both cultivated a jazz culture and a political and social fiber within a protean, incisive and free body of work.