Meshell Ndegeocello honors James Baldwin with new album

Meshell Ndegeocello Announces Second Blue Note Album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin

On August 2, 2024, celebrated multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer Meshell Ndegeocello will release her second Blue Note album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin. This ambitious project, coinciding with his centennial, is a profound homage to the eminent writer and activist James Baldwin. It promises to be a multifaceted experience, blending musical performance, spiritual reflection, celebration, and social commentary.

A Visionary Tribute to Baldwin

Ndegeocello’s new album is a prophetic musical odyssey, breaking through conventional boundaries and genres to explore race, sexuality, religion, and other recurring themes in Baldwin’s work. Following her acclaimed 2023 debut with Blue Note, The Omnichord Real Book, which won the inaugural GRAMMY Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album, No More Water showcases Ndegeocello’s ability to create immersive and thought-provoking art. The album is as insightful and bold as Baldwin’s literary legacy.

Collaborative Effort and Powerful Contributions

Co-produced by Ndegeocello and guitarist Chris Bruce, the album features an impressive lineup of frequent collaborators. These include Bruce, vocalist Justin Hicks, saxophonist Josh Johnson, keyboardist Jebin Bruni, and drummer Abe Rounds. Additional contributions come from vocalist Kenita-Miller Hicks, keyboardists Jake Sherman and Julius Rodriguez, and trumpeter Paul Thompson. Spoken word performances by acclaimed poet Staceyann Chin and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and critic Hilton Als add depth and resonance to the project.

Origins and Inspiration

The origins of No More Water trace back to a 2016 performance at The Harlem Stage Gatehouse during their annual Baldwin showcase. Ndegeocello’s engagement with Baldwin’s work, particularly the influential The Fire Next Time, has been profound and personal. She regards Baldwin’s writing as transformative, describing it as a “spiritual text” that softened her heart and expanded her perspective.

Als, in the album’s liner notes, captures the essence of this project: “The music you hear in No More Water is Jimmy talking to Meshell and his words meeting the language of her sounds, then coming out again through a multitude of voices, sounds, and thoughts that bring Jimmy back and give him—finally—his whole and true self, that which he offered up, time and again, if only we knew then how to listen.”

Thematic Journey and Musical Structure

The album’s thematic structure mirrors a Black church service, encompassing baptism, testimony, worship/praise, and resurrection. The opening track and lead single, “Travel,” delves into the mind of a man with suicidal thoughts, a recurrent theme in Baldwin’s writings. The track features Rodriguez’s organ, Chin’s incantations, and Hicks’ haunting vocals, setting a dystopian tone.

“Raise The Roof” showcases Chin’s unaccompanied spoken word, vividly capturing the harsh realities of systemic racism: “It must be in the fucking water being force-fed to the police, the prosecutor and the politicians who care nothing for Black bodies falling like leaves in late August…in Ferguson…in Cleveland…in Staten Island, only minutes away from where my own child sits, watching The Muppets take over Manhattan.”

A Journey of Self-Discovery

No More Water marks a significant point of self-discovery for Ndegeocello. Reflecting on Baldwin’s influence, she acknowledges that his work entered her life at a pivotal moment, prompting her to seek deeper understanding and connection. “It came when I was ready to look in the mirror. I’ve 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 color, whereas now I’m going, ‘How can I get us all to love each other? How can I get us all to see this for what it is?’”.