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ONE WAY Recommends [Issue
#16]
Me’shell Ndegeocello By
Lynne Bronstein
Dance Of The Infidel
(CD
Shanachie)
Instead of explosions
and cultures at odds, here is cultural fusion. “Suitable for free minds,
open hearts and shaking behinds” sums up Me’shell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur’s
(her full Islamic name) attitude towards music as fulfilled by this formerly
French-import only album, now available in the States by popular demand. Ndegeocello
co-produced, played bass on some tracks, co-wrote most of the music, and assembled
a cast of jazz pros (Oran Coltrane, Kenny Garrett, Cassandra Wilson, Jack DeJohnette,
among others) to perform her spirit-meets flesh, East-loves-West concept. The
eight compositions stand as reminders that the best jazz is not “smooth,”
but multi-angled. Most tracks are instrumental jazz, built upon Ndegeocello’s
bass lines. The title cut is especially exciting, with Coltrane and Garrett
cutting loose on the horns. Other highlights include “Aquarium” with
Brazilian Girls’ Sabina expressing loneliness from a fish’s viewpoint,
Wilson singing Ndegeocello’s take on the Song of Songs in “The Chosen,”
and Lalah Hathaway giving new life to the standard “When Did You leave
Heaven?” If Ndegeocello has not been thought of as a jazz performer before,
she certainly has entered the arena with this album and jazz is richer for it.
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