Meshell Ndegeocello returned to Seattle last night to present a set of Gil Scott-Heron material, only 8 months after her last appearance at the Triple Door. She was touring with the same band, with the exception of Keefus Ciancia on keyboards, whose absence was striking. With just bass, drums, and guitar for instrumentation, the songs were given room to breathe, and were more rock and roll than I previously thought.

She appeared confident and comfortable, and was eager(!) to talk in between songs, explaining why each song mattered to her. She was engaging and often funny. The band was in top form, too, and served the material well. Highlights included a very funky take on Who’ll Pay Reparations on My Soul?, an updated The Revolution Will Not be Televised (including pointed lyrics about Sarah Palin and President Obama – “frankly, he’s not that revolutionary”), an extended instrumental ending to Lola, and a short acoustic set featuring just her vocals and guitar on Grace and Beautiful.

As usual, she surprised and challenged the listeners, and provided yet another glimpse into her incredible musical world. If you are able to catch any remaining dates on this tour, I highly recommend doing so, as “The revolution will not be televised…the revolution is gonna be live.”

Set list
Gil’s music:

Where Did the Night Go
The Bottle
Whitey on the Moon
Who’ll Pay Reparations on My Soul?
Cannon Fodder (a song by Eugene McDaniels)
Peace Go With You, Brother (instrumental set to a taped lecture of Dr. Cornel West)
Free Will
Home is Where the Hatred is
The Revolution Will Not be Televised

Meshell’s music:

Die Young
Love You Down
Lola
Grace
Beautiful
Faithful
White Girl
Outside Your Door (encore)

Buy it
Meshell’s music available at Amazon

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010

Song
God. Fear. Money by Meshell Ndegeocello

Back story
As readers here know, Meshell Ndegeocello is one of my favorite artists.  She is the rare musician whose chops, vision, lyrics, and emotion all come together equally.  Known for always pushing the envelope, she explored funk, jazz, and hip-hop on this 2002 album.  This on the heels of her acoustic ballad release, Bitter, which challenged many of her fans and critics.  No less controversial, this record explored themes of racism, bigotry, and homophobia.

Why this song
God. Fear. Money is from Meshell’s 2002 release, Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape, which Rolling Stone reviewed as ‘powerful, beautiful, sensual and activist, this is the record Prince keeps trying to make.’  It features an incredibly funky bass line matched with pointed lyrics such as “If Jesus was alive today, he’d be incarcerated with the rest of the brothers.”  The vocal line is often syncopated, making it jump out against the rhythm.  If you are new to her music, this is a good starting point, as the song is catchy, groovy, has a great refrain, and will stick with you.

More info
All Music
Rolling Stone

Check it out

The video quality here leaves much to be desired, but at least the audio quality is decent, and it’s great to see a live performance.  Here is the studio version as well.

Buy it
Amazon

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010