Charenee Wade offers a new perspective on the music of Gil Scott-Heron

Vocalist Charenee Wade is to release her second album, ‘Offering: The Music Of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson. Jazz FM has been exclusively featuring this new release since the beginning of May. First Runner-Up in the Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition in 2010, she becomes the first woman to release a full album tribute to the music of the late Gil Scott-Heron. 

This is another win for New York’s Motema Music, the label that discovered and released the first two Gregory Porter albums. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris is featured extensively, appearing on six of the eleven songs, along with bassist Lonnie Plaxico, guitarist Dave Stryker, and Motema label-mate saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin. Other notable contributors include Marcus MIller on bass clarinet and the spoken word of both Christian McBride and actor Malcolm Jamal-Warner, who won a Grammy this year with Robert Glasper Experiment for his verses on 'Jesus Children Of America.'

‘Offering’ is produced by journalist and broadcaster Mark Ruffin who also worked on an album of Gil Scott-Heron titles with vocalist Giacomo Gates, and is released on June 23rd.