A landmark in jazz and in 1970s American black music more generally, Pieces Of A Man represented a quantum leap from Gil's acclaimed debut A New Black Poet - Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. Teaming up with pianist-composer Brian Jackson (who co-wrote all but four of the 11 tunes here), with this album Scott-Heron moved from being a powerful spoken-word artist to a figure of vast musical and cultural significance.

Although only modestly successful at the time, Pieces Of A Man proved to be hugely influential: thanks to the brilliant backing musicians – all of whom play with an appropriate sense of urgency – and Bob Thiele's sympathetic production; the album introduced soul and mainstream black music to looser, jazzier structures; it also helped birth yet-to-be-invented genres, most significantly rap and neo-soul. And in the opening four songs, all solely written by Scott-Heron, the LP gifted popular music four immortal standards: ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, ‘Save The Children’, ‘Lady Day and John Coltrane’ and ‘Home Is Where The Hatred Is’. Gil also proved a brilliant singer: his voice had the stentorian power of an Old Testament prophet, but was cut with a weary, streetwise ache, the sorrow of one who’d seen too much pain and injustice; however that melancholy – the grief of watching heroes struck down, of betrayed hopes – was itself leavened with an energy, an anger and refusal to take things as they were. Vocally as well as lyrically, Gil was the equivalent of Muhammad Ali – smart, light on his feet and able to pack a killer punch.

Of the different versions of this delayed-by-the-pandemic anniverary edition available, the one to get is the 2-LP, 45rpm all-analogue cut (XXQLP 094) by Frank Merritt – it sounds stunning, with Ron Carter's bubbling basslines and Gil's voice rendered beautifully. Half a century on, Pieces Of A Man not only sounds better than ever, but more relevant too.