| Summary: | Repeated disagreements between the members of the Last Poets, who even regularly argued over the name of the band, peppered their career with various dissolutions and near-reunions. However, forty years after their formation in 1968, they came together as one for an exceptional evening on April 11, 2008 in Aubervilliers, as part of the Banlieues Bleues festival. Here, we could rediscover the circle of missing poets: Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole, Dahveed Nelson and Felipe Luciano, all members - to varying degrees - having played key roles in the group's history. Faithful percussionists to the movement, Baba Donn Babatunde and Kenyatte Abdur-Rahman, were there to partake, as well as the masterful trio: Robert Irving III (keyboards), Jamaladeen Tacuma (bass) and Ronald Shannon Jackson (drums). The opening images of the documentary present a 1968 Black Panther demonstration before alternating between interviews, rehearsals and concert footage where the Last Poets perform tracks like "Black Rage," "Niggers Are Scared of Revolution," "Die Nigga!!!" and "America Is A Terrorist." The discourse also includes speeches by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and questions of anti-imperialism and armed struggle. Their convictions are as radical as ever, as is the power of their spoken word which acted as an inspiration for rap. Notably, too, there is a wonderful version of God Bless the Child Billie Holiday, captured during a rehearsal session. Essentially, if rappers are unaware of what they owe to the Last Poets, then they are aware of what the owe to jazz. The following day, Jalal would not accompany his comrades to the Cully Jazz Festival. This concert, therefore, is unique and special. Eric Delhaye.
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| Participant or Performer: | Last Poets (Umar Bin Hassan, Felipe Luciano, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Dahveed Nelson, Abiodun Oyewole) ; Babatunde, Kenyatte Abdur-Rahman, percussion ; Robert Irving III, keyboard ; Ronald Shannon Jackson, drums ; Jamaladeen Tacuma, bass. |
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