The first minute of a new day began at 9PM, when ecstatic emotions surged El Rey as Gil Scott-Heron strolled on stage. The event felt like a rarity—experiencing jazz, poetry and hip hop as it was fused decades earlier, but as Heron said, his music is living music; a non genre sound evident in the varied faces packing the house.

In the first few moments, Gil Scott-Heron did as I’d witnessed in classic video footage, he grabbed us in social commentary delivering provocative laughter. Among many things, he spoke about his upcoming autobiography The Last Holiday, based on his 1980 tour with Stevie Wonder lobbying for Martin Luther King Junior’s birthday to be a holiday, as well as the need for becoming registered voters simply with intentions of serving jury duty. The theater was exploding giddiness pocketed in anticipation—when he sat down, head bent to microphone, took his keyboard beneath his fingers and began the “95 South (All The Places We’ve Been)”melody, which was swept up in cheers before he began singing. Accompanied by a six member band, each offering from “Winter In America” to “We Almost Lost Detroit” and a few others, was like new love celebrated on better days.

Gil Scott-Heron’s coming to Los Angeles was a celebration in itself. Who knows when a night like this will come again. For those who attended on October 4th, it was an hour long session washed in excitement that made our insides dance, as we experienced the continuation of a beginning.

—Porschia Baker