Meshell Ndegeocello at SFJAZZ Center

Meshell Ndegeocello
No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin
SFJAZZ Center
San Francisco, CA
January 17, 2025

The works and courageous career of writer and novelist James Baldwin (August 2, 1924—December 1, 1987) had an immense impact on many people. One of them is bassist and songwriter/composer MeShell NdegeOcello, who first composed some of the tunes on her latest CD, No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin around a decade ago. It all began with her score for "Can I Get a Witness? The Gospel of James Baldwin," a 2016 musical theatrical tribute to write James Baldwin, which debuted in December 2016 at the Harlem Stage in Harlem, New York and was inspired by James Baldwin's nonfiction book of essays The Fire Next Time, which was highly critical of the Black church in America. Onstage, the musical presented it as a church service. Baldwin's tome was a particular favorite of Ndegeocello who "carried it around for about a year."

Of particular importance was how Baldwin dealt with religion and "how it's being used to manipulate people," as Ndegeocello puts it. As she told NPR, "I'm very clear that that was used to enslave me. It's sort of a mind control." Last year, she told Downbeat that, while some things are improving (Black Americans "are not dying of cankerous sores; we are not in chains") but "the mentality of the political system is not that different. And that's what The Fire Next Time ages in you. It gives you a blueprint. Baldwin breaks down the police; he breaks down the church. In a clear, succinct manner, he breaks down white society and the Black Muslim movement at the same time."

Onstage, Ndegeocello is a quiet, yet imposing presence. For the first of three popular nights at SFJAZZ Center, she, sat stage right, clad in black sunglasses and dark garments. By her side, and also seated, was vocalist Justin Hicks whose new CD Ndegeocello is in the process of producing. Keyboardist and synthesizer master Jebin Bruni stood to her rear, drummer Abe Rounds was to her right, and Rhodes and Hammond B3 Maestro Jake Sherman was to Hicks' left. In front of Sherman sat saxophonist Josh Johnson. Guitarist Christopher Bruce, standing to the back, completed the ensemble. Classic monochrome shots of Baldwin were projected overhead; one featured his very wide eyes (which also find graphic expression in the CD booklet for "No More Water").

The evening opened with "Georgia Avenue," a tune commemorating Washington DC's most famous boulevard, which was on her Blue Note debut, The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note, 2023), which won her the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album for 2024.

A selection of songs fromNo More Water followed, beginning with the poetic "Travel" and ending with "Pride," "Love" and "Hatred," tunes which, as with some of the other numbers, did not appear in that order on the CD.

"Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the one who hated, and this is an immutable law. I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense that once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain." —James Baldwin

The ensemble's multilayered sound collage, which consists of both recorded prose poems and excerpts from Baldwin's prose, was heady, thoughtful, beautifully presented and diverse. It included haunting vocals from Hicks (Ndegeocello mostly played her bass and talked to the audience between songs), powerful recorded words from Hilton Als (on "Go Tell It on the Mountain") and from Staceyann Chin  ("You have to write and scream and wail and march," a taped Chin exhorted us), synth noodling from Bruni, as well as moody organ from Sherman, which added tremendously to the atmosphere. Soul, gospel, folk, blues and even the moody ambience found in Miles Davis's Bitches Brew-era recordings were all part of the mix.

The spell cast by the performers was broken only when "Hatred" ended, the band exited, and the audience erupted with enthusiastic applause and gave a standing ovation. Ndegeocello and band returned for her tunes "The Atlantiques," "The Fifth Dimension," and "Clear Water," all from The Omnichord Real Book. These led to yet another standing ovation, and a conclusion to the evening's powerful musical, sermon-laden service.

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