This is such a great record — and there are so many reasons for me to love it, even if you leave Me’Shell herself out of it for a moment.
The record is produced by David Gamson — a crucial member of Scritti Politti before Green Gartside took it solo, and inventor of the drum sound that pretty much dominated the latter part of the 1980s. He spent a full 6 months in the studio getting it right for the canonical Cupid & Psyche ’85 record, and then it was taken and turned into a cliche by every other pop producer in the business at the time.
Piano is provided by jazz superstar Geri Allen, who is one of the more interesting straight-ahead jazzers around at the moment. Joshua Redman plays sax.
Those things would make pretty much any record one worth owning. But Me’Shell Ndegeocello (say ‘in-day-gay-o-cello’) makes it a full five star recording (though All Music only give it 4).
She plays the bass, she sings, and she mixes a powerful brew of sex, politics, drugs and religion. Probably in that order. This is one of those artists I could have played you anything by and it would have done the trick for me. But this seems to be the track that wins more converts than any other.
A lot of people raved over D’Angelo when he came out, and I just didn’t really get it. Tell me about Me’Shell, and then what you’re saying makes sense.
