No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin Meshell Ndegeocello

• 1Travel04:09
• 2On The Mountain05:59
• 3Baldwin Manifesto I00:43
• 4Raise The Roof05:06
• 5The Price Of The Ticket01:34
• 6What Did I Do?05:18
• 7Pride I02:54
• 8Pride II02:38
• 9Eyes05:17
• 10Trouble07:18
• 11Thus Sayeth The Lorde05:40
• 12Love03:42
• 13Hatred05:28
• 14Tsunami Rising08:04
• 15Another Country04:47
• 16Baldwin Manifesto II02:06
• 17Down At The Cross05:42
• Total Runtime01:16:25

Info for No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin

Meshell Ndegeocello’s 2nd Blue Note album No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin pays homage to the eminent writer and activist James Baldwin. Ndegeocello’s transformative music and collaborative spirit ignites this genre-bending work that is at once a musical experience, a church service, a celebration, a testimonial, and a call to action. The album will be released on Baldwin’s Centennial: August 2, 2024.

No More Water is a visionary work that is at once a musical experience, a church service, a celebration, a testimonial, and a call to action. Ndegeocello has created a prophetic musical odyssey that transcends boundaries and genres, delving headfirst into race, sexuality, religion, and other recurring themes explored in Baldwin’s canon. Following 2023’s 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 bassist’s 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 by venerated poet Staceyann Chin and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and critic Hilton Als.

Nearly a decade in the making, the album’s origins began in 2016 during a performance at The Harlem Stage Gatehouse as part of their annual showcase honoring Baldwin. Ndegeocello had delved into Baldwin’s work the year before, including the seminal nonfiction work The Fire Next Time, which she considers “life-changing” and carries with her as a “spiritual text.” Ndegeocello says, “It was just a revelation to me, and it softened my heart in so many ways.” “Inspired by Baldwin’s most well-known essay, Ndegeocello’s piece—often staged as a church service—employs music, sermon, text, images, and movement, all of which enter into conversation with Baldwin’s monumental and delicate essay about how black bodies were perceived not only by white Americans but by blacks themselves,” writes Als in the album’s liner notes. “The 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 him—finally—his whole and true self, that which he offered up, time and again, if only we knew then how to listen.”

No More Water marks a significant moment of self-discovery for Ndegeocello. She adds that Baldwin entered her life at precisely the right time. “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?’”

"Meshell Ndegeocello is a modern master of electric bass. Her playing never calls undue attention to itself, yet her songs would fall apart without it. Bouncing between just two notes, she exudes authority while propelling “Travel,” which opens her new release “No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin” (Blue Note, out Aug. 2). Her fleet-fingered, deep-toned groove arrives with sudden and transforming force halfway into the next track, “On the Mountain.” Later, her descending figure on “What Did I Do?” throbs with disarming fullness as it guides both the song’s form and its forlorn feeling." (Larry Blumenfeld, The Wall Street Journal)

Meshell Ndegeocello, bass
Chris Bruce, guitar
Justin Hicks, vocals
Josh Johnson, saxophone
Jebin Bruni, keyboards
Abe Rounds, drums
Guest:
Staceyann Chin, poet, narrator
Hilton Als, narrator

Following the release of 2011′s critically acclaimed Weather, Meshell Ndegeocello announces the release of her 10th studio album, Pour une âme souveraine (“For a sovereign soul”), a dedication to fellow musician Nina Simone. Joined by musicians Chris Bruce (guitar), Jebin Bruni (keys) and Deantoni Parks (drums), the singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist, and vocalist reworked some of the tracks made famous by the iconic musician. Guests on the album include Sinead O’Connor, Lizz Wright, Valerie June, Tracy Wannomae, Toshi Reagon and Cody ChesnuTT. To celebrate the release of the album, Meshell is sharing the iconic track “Be My Husband,” which just premiered on NPR. Flush with stomps, claps and chants, Meshell is accompanied on vocals by New York singer-songwriter Valerie June.

After only ten days in the studios of guitarist Pete Min, this album was born, reflecting Meshell’s admiration for the pioneering work of an artist who refused to be owned by genre, industry, or expectation. As Meshell describes, this album is “a dedication to Nina Simone and her incredible influence but it is also a dedication to the single, interior life we all experience.” Revered by Meshell, Nina Simone was a powerful influence both musically and politically. Her music was highly instrumental in the fight for equal rights in the United States. “She wanted success, was pressured to make hits, but her own sound was still irrepressible,” explains Meshell. “She had things to say, she protested. She was a loud, proud black, female voice during a time when black female voices were not encouraged to make themselves heard.”

Comprised of a mix of traditional classics (“Feelin’ Good”), songs written by Nina Simone (“Real Real”), or for her (“To Be Young, Gifted and Black” by Weldon Irvine), the album represents a full spectrum of Nina Simone’s work and life. From the pulsing of the traditional ballad “House Of The Rising Sun,” the velvety, soul filled vocals of “Feeling Good,” and a bluegrass duet with Sinead O’Connor in “Don’t Take All Night,” Meshell Ndegeocello gives a subtle spin to the tracks off the Pour une âme souveraine.

“We really wanted to do something we felt was true to Nina Simone. By that realizing it meant we had to do what felt true to us,” says Chris Bruce, who co-produced the album along with Meshell and wrote the arrangements. “The aim was not to re-create the existing versions, because we felt strongly that the only way to honor Nina would be for Meshell to find her own voice in the material. Nina was always exploring and experimenting, and quite cathartic. If you are familiar with her work at all you will frequently find that there exist multiple versions of the same song. So we wanted to tap into that same creative spirit and make the songs our own. And in the end hopefully have something we feel she would appreciate and feel pride.”

This album contains no booklet.