Ventriloquism on NPR’s First Listen
Album Features Covers of TLC, Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, Sade & more
Ventriloquism Out March 16
US Tour Starts March 18
Ndegeocello breathes old soul into a collection of post-soul classics and elevates them to their rightful place in the pantheon. - NPR
Meshell Ndegeocello has shared her new album Ventriloquism today via NPR First Listen. Ventriloquism will be coming out March 16 via Believe. Pre-order the album here. Ventriloquism features versions of songs by Prince, Janet Jackson, Tina Turner and more.
Musically, Ventriloquism has the hallmarks of all of Ndegeocello’s work, lush and investigative, subversive and sublime. As always, she pays tribute to her diverse influences and in these eleven covers, we hear them layered over one another. Ndegeocello filters “Tender Love” through a folky, Californian filter and brings Vaudevillian accents to “Sensitivity”. She recreates Smooth Operator in five, and turns “Private Dancer” into a sultry waltz. The reimagining affords not just a new musical experience but also a comment on the narrow expectations of sounds and structures for black artists and black music.
“Early on in my career, I was told to make the same kind of album again and again, and when I didn’t do that, I lost support. There isn’t much diversity within genres, which are ghettoizing themselves, and I liked the idea of turning hits I loved into something even just a little less familiar or formulaic. It was an opportunity to pay a new kind of tribute.”
A portion of the profits from this album will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Track Listing for Ventriloquism:
1. I Wonder If I Take You Home [Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam feat. Full Force]
2. Nite And Day [Al B. Sure!]
3. Sometimes It Snows In April [Prince]
4. Waterfalls [TLC]
5. Atomic Dog 2017 [George Clinton]
6. Sensitivity [Ralph Tresvant]
7. Funny How Time Flies(When You're Having Fun)[Janet Jackson]
8. Tender Love [Force MDs]
9. Don't Disturb This Groove [The System]
10. Private Dancer [Tina Turner]
11. Smooth Operator [Meshell Ndegeocello Version]
Meshell Ndegeocello Tour Dates:
3/18 - Birmingham, AL - The WorkPlay Theatre
3/19 - Nashville, TN - City Winery
3/21 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
3/22 - Knoxville, TN - Big Ears Festival
3/23 - Columbus, OH - Next@Wex Series at the Performance Space at Wexner Center for the Arts
3/24 - Chicago, IL - The Promontory
3/26 - Evanston, IL - SPACE
3/27 - Minneapolis, MN - Dakota Jazz Club
4/26 - Washington, DC - The Kennedy Center
4/27 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
5/3 - 5/4 - Berkeley, CA - Freight & Salvage
5/5 – Sacramento, CA - Sofia Tsakapolous Center for the Arts
5/8 - San Diego, CA - The Music Box
Meshell Ndegeocello Links
Website
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