Trouble funk
Maverick bass player and composer in funky but fraught summit with fearless analyst of American racism.
By Mark Cooper.
Meshell Ndegeocello
★★★★
No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin
BLUE NOTE. CD/DL/LP
STARTING OUT as a teenager on Washington DC’s go-go scene, Meshell Ndegeocello has been bravely pursuing her own independent identity ever since. Her adopted surname means ‘free like a bird’ in Swahili and she’s never been one to be typecast. Launched in the bear pop market of the ’90s, she’s always been profoundly immersed in bass culture both past and present, a black queer woman unafraid to stare down America’s racial and gender inequities while determinedly carving out her own musical space.