On No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, bassist and band leader Meshell Ndegeocello distils the personal and artistic influence that James Baldwin has had on her into a seventeen-track set that reverberates with the themes of the writer’s work – from racial justice to religion, sexuality and the role of the artist.
It would be doing a disservice to this epic record to categorise it as a mere tribute to mark the the centenary of Baldwin’s birth, which falls today, the release date. The inspiration, anger and righteous fury that characterised the author’s work is a jumping-off point for Ndegeocello to explore both the injustices that Baldwin faced and their contemporary parallels.
Ndegeocello is at this point decades into an extraordinary career that has seen her blur the boundaries between jazz, soul, rock, hip-hop and more. A frequent collaborator and contributor to records across a breadth of styles, she has worked with everyone from the Rolling Stones to Madonna, Redman and Chaka Khan. Something of a musical chameleon she may be, but her records are always imbued with a strong sense of self.
After a five-year hiatus from releasing records, she returned with 2023’s critical smash and winner of the inaugural Grammy for Best Alternative Jazz album, The Omnichord Real Book. Coming hot on its heels, No More Water, represents a continuation of her searing creative form. It’s also her second for Blue Note.
Ndegeocello is joined by frequent collaborators Justin Hicks and Kenita Miller-Hicks on vocal duties, Josh Johnson on sax, Jebin Bruni on keyboards, Abe Rounds on drums, Jake Sherman on Hammond organ and Julius Rodriguez on Rhodes bass and organ. Stirring spoken word sections are provided by poet and activist Staceyann Chinn and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hilton Abs.
At many points throughout the record, the sonic palettes which Ndegeocello and her band opt for sit in deliberate and stark contrast to the lyrical content. On The Price of the Ticket, an acoustic guitar driven ballad, she gently intones “officer – put down your gun and take your hands off me”. The gentle almost soothing nature of the track accentuates the gravity of the words and their message about the brutality of the police.
This cut comes on the heels of Raise The Roof, a righteous slice of spoken word poetry delivered Staceyann Chin, that acts as a call to action. It references multiple well-documented acts of police brutality and extra-judicial killing of people of colour in recent US history. It is one of the most powerful moments on the record.
Two spoken interludes come in the form of The Baldwin Manifesto I and II, both being excerpts from a speech given by Baldwin on the nature of creative struggle around the time he wrote a well-known essay on the subject. The presence of Baldwin snakes its way through the album as Ndegeocello and company explore the main themes of the piece.
It’s easy to become fixated on the thematic content of No More Water, but the sonic variety on offer here really is something to behold. From the funky use of organ, guitar and bass on album opener Travel to the acoustic guitar balladry of the aforementioned The Price of the Ticket, the sonic shifts throughout help create a genuinely epic and impactful record, by a bandleader who knows how to marshal an astonishing mix of sounds. Her bass playing is also heard to great effect; she is a very fine player
Part polemical call to action for justice, part church service, part tribute to a legendary writer and civil rights activist – No More Water is many things, and it does all of them expertly. This record is a triumph.
Release date 2 August 2024
