Meshell Ndegeocello has released her second Blue Note album, No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin, a striking homage to the eminent writer and activist James Baldwin that is out NOW on his Centennial.
The visionary work is at once a musical experience, a church service, a celebration, a testimonial, and a call to action. With No More Water, Ndegeocello embarks on a prophetic musical odyssey that transcends boundaries and genres, delving headfirst into race, sexuality, religion, and other recurring themes explored in Baldwinâs canon.
Following 2023âs The Omnichord Real Book, her acclaimed Blue Note debut which won the inaugural GRAMMY Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album, the multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer renders an immersive and palpable document that is as sagacious, unabashed, and introspective as Baldwin was in life.
Co-produced by Ndegeocello and guitarist Chris Bruce, No More Water features some of the bassistâs frequent collaborators including Bruce, vocalist Justin Hicks, saxophonist (and Omnichord producer) Josh Johnson, keyboardist Jebin Bruni, and drummer Abe Rounds. Also appearing on various songs are vocalist Kenita-Miller Hicks, keyboardists Jake Sherman and Julius Rodriguez, and Executive Director of the NYCPS Arts Office and trumpeter Paul Thompson. The album also showcases powerful spoken word byvenerated poet Staceyann Chin and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and critic Hilton Als.
Nearly a decade in the making, the albumâs origins began in 2016 during a performance at The Harlem Stage Gatehouse as part of their annual showcase honouring Baldwin. Ndegeocello had delved into Baldwinâs work the year before, including the seminal nonfiction work The Fire Next Time, which she considers âlife-changingâ and carries with her as a âspiritual text.â Ndegeocello says, âIt was just a revelation to me, and it softened my heart in so many ways.â
âInspired by Baldwinâs most well-known essay, Ndegeocelloâs pieceâoften staged as a church serviceâemploys music, sermon, text, images, and movement, all of which enter into conversation with Baldwinâs monumental and delicate essay about how black bodies were perceived not only by white Americans but by blacks themselves,â writes Als in the albumâs liner notes. âThe music you hear in No More Water, is Jimmy talking to Meshell and his words meeting the language of her sounds and then coming out again through a multitude of voices, a multitude of sounds and thoughts that bring Jimmy back and give himâfinallyâhis whole and true self, that which he offered up, time and again, if only we knew then how to listen.â
No More Water marks a significant moment of self-discovery for Ndegeocello. She adds that Baldwin entered her life at precisely the right time. âIt came when I was ready to look in the mirror. Iâve had to play Plantation Lullabies at a few shows. Looking back, I had an interesting perspective, but the dialogue was limited. It was more like a cathartic experience for a young person of colour, whereas now Iâm going, âHow can I get us all to love each other? How can I get us all to see this for what it is?ââ
