Meshell Ndegeocello has announced a new record, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin. The album is an homage to the renowned writer and activist and will be released on his 100th birthday, August 2, 2024. No More Water is Ndegeocello’s second album for Blue Note following last year’s The Omnichord Real Book, which won the inaugural Grammy award for Best Alternative Jazz Album. The new record is led by the singles “Travel” and “Raise the Roof.”
No More Water’s origins date back to 2016, when Ndegeocello premiered a work inspired by Baldwin’s nonfiction classic The Fire Next Time at The Harlem Stage Gatehouse.
No More Water is co-produced by Ndegeocello and guitarist Chris Bruce. The 17-track record features collaborators including vocalist Justin Hicks, saxophonist (and Omnichord producer) Josh Johnson, keyboardist Jebin Bruni, and drummer Abe Rounds. Also featured 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 includes spoken word by poet Staceyann Chin and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and critic Hilton Als, who also contributed liner notes.
Says Als of the record, “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.”
According to Ndegeocello, No More Water signifies a moment of self-discovery: “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?’”
Order Meshell Ndegeocello’s No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin.