Winter in America is a studio album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and keyboardist Brian Jackson. It was recorded in September to October 1973 at D&B Sound Studio in Silver Spring, Maryland and released in May 1974 by Strata-East Records. Scott-Heron and Jackson produced the album in a stripped-down fashion, relying on traditional African and R&B sounds, while Jackson's piano-based arrangements were rooted in jazz and the blues. The subject matter on Winter in America deals with the African-American community and inner city in the 1970s.

The album serves as Scott-Heron and Jackson's debut release for Strata-East, following a dispute with their former label and departure. It proved to be their sole release for the independent jazz label. Upon its release, Winter in America featured limited distribution in the United States and quickly became rare in print. However, with promotional help from its only single "The Bottle", it obtained considerably larger commercial success than Scott-Heron's and Jackson's previous work. The album debuted at number six on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart and ultimately sold over 300,000 copies in the United States.

While it was critically overlooked upon its release, Winter in America earned retrospective acclaim from several writers and music critics as Scott-Heron's and Jackson's greatest work together. Along with its critical recognition, it has been noted by several critics for its influence on derivative music forms such as neo soul and hip hop music, as many artists of the genres have been influenced by Scott-Heron's and Jackson's lyrical and musical approach on the album. On March 10, 1998, Winter in America was reissued on compact disc for the first time in the United States through Scott-Heron's Rumal-Gia Records.

After leaving his former label Flying Dutchman Records, Gil Scott-Heron signed with the New York City jazz-based Strata-East label in early 1973, accompanied by jazz keyboardist and songwriter Brian Jackson, with whom he had worked with on his previous studio albums, Pieces of a Man (1971) and Free Will (1972). While some sources allege this may have been over financial or creative differences, Scott-Heron maintained the switch was due to producer Bob Thiele's unwillingness to give Jackson co-billing. By the time of their move to Strata-East, Scott-Heron and Jackson had achieved underground notice among R&B and soul music listeners, particularly for the political and social nature of their music's themes, as well as Scott-Heron's emphasis on African-American culture and social plight in his compositions. Their musical fusion of jazz, blues, soul and spoken word styles helped them earn some notice among less-mainstream black music listeners at the time.

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