MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
featuring...
Meshell Ndegeocello: vocals, bass guitar, keyboards
Chris Bruce: guitars
Jebin Bruni: keyboards
Justin Hicks: vocals
Kenita-Miller Hicks: vocals
Josh Johnson: saxophone
Julius Rodriguez: keyboards
Abe Rounds: drums
Jake Sherman: keyboards
Paul Thompson: trumpet
Produced by Meshell Ndegeocello and Chris Bruce
Released August 2, 2024
For an artist as fearlessly forward thinking and unshakably idiosyncratic as singer/composer/bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, I am fascinated with how she has consistently and openly found and shared her muse through the act of tribute that arrives when looking back to those who have formulated her and therefore, continues to inspire.
Within her continuing singular discography, she has already released "Pour une Ame Souveraine: A Dedication To Nina Simone" (released October 16, 2012), a full album of cover songs from the likes of George Clinton, Sade, TLC, Janet Jackson, Prince and more entitled "Ventriloquism" (released March 16, 2018) and early this year she already released her tribute to Sun Ra entitled, "Red Hot & Ra-The Magic City" (released April 12, 2024).
Now, Ndegeocello has unveiled what I feel to be is her most expansive release sonically, performatively and emotionally. Released closely in conjunction with his100th birthday, "No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin" utilizes the messages of Baldwin's writings and activism which Meshell Ndegeocello then weaves into a sonic tapestry fueled by a variety of musical genres from soul, funk, hip hop, rock, folk, jazz, poetry, spoken word set pieces, the titular gospel and more, all combined with a literal multitude of voices which speaks to the history and present of the Black American experience.
The album is defiantly arranged and presented making for a demanding listening experience that is unable to be consumed passively...and nor should it be. Ndegeocello has fashioned a definitive artistic and political statement that is simultaneously meditative and mournful, overflowing with righteous outrage, social and spiritual uplift and sorrow and a call to arms fighting spirit against all manner of oppression that vehemently echoes the adage that it is better to die upon one's feet than to live upon one's knees. Ndegeocello has created what is essentially a musical news report of where we as Black Americans have been as well as a howling call to action to take ourselves and shape our futures where we exist solely upon our own terms and not through the lens of Whiteness.
One striking feature about the album is how Ndegeocello has relinquished vocal duties and at times, and hands all instrumental performances over to her team of musicians and collaborators. At first, it seem a tad head scratching but soon reveal itself as being essential to the evocation of communal solidarity. Meshell Ndegeocello is working firmly as the orchestrator using bandmates, vocalists and the studio itself evenly as instruments. It is an exceedingly generous choice to hand the spotlight over to the voices of Justin Hicks and unquestionably, the raining firestorm of poet Staceyann Chin so frequently. Spoken word passages throughout often feel like hallucinogenic thoughts flowing through the brain while you are being deeply immersed in the succulent musical beds being made, ensuring the pains and promises are felt with passionate enormity.
Where we have been, where we are and where we are going as Black people is the ongoing journey set within the heart of Meshell Ndegeocello's "No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin." For it is through the inheritance and dissemination of Baldwin's legacy as envisioned by Ndegeocello that showcases how every step taken in every life existed have all contributed to the lives we possess today--and so crucially, during this terrifying election season. We stand upon the shoulders of the past and the future will stand upon ours. This album serves and stands as document.
It is also one of 2024's very best releases.
SAVAGE RADIO SUGGESTED FURTHER LISTENING:
"The American Negro" Adrian Younge (released February 26, 2021)
"Black Rainbows" Corrine Bailey Rae (released September 15, 2023)
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