Peace Beyond Passion (CD - 1996)

Personnel includes: Me'Shell NdegeOcello (vocals, various instruments); Wendy Melvoin (acoustic guitar, guitar); Wah Wah Watson (acoustic & electric guitars); Allen Cato, David Fiuczynski (guitar); Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet); Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone, saxophone, horns); Federico Gonzalez Pena (Fender Rhodes electric piano, percussion); Billy Preston (organ); Oliver Gene Lake (drums); David Gamson (drums, drum programming); Daniel Sadownick, Luis Conte (percussion).

Engineers: Rail Jon Rogut, David Gamson, Charles Nasser (tracks 1-3, 5-12); Michael Krowiak (track 4).

PEACE BEYOND PASSION was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.

Personnel: Me'Shell Ndegéocello (guitar, percussion, drum programming); Wendy Melvoin (guitar, acoustic guitar); Wah Wah Watson (guitar, wah-wah guitar); David Fiuczynski, Allen Cato (guitar); Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet); Joshua Redman (saxophone, tenor saxophone, horns); Federico Pena (Fender Rhodes piano, percussion); Billy Preston (organ); David Gamson (drums, drum programming); Gene Lake (drums); Daniel Sadownick, Luis Conte (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Bob Power.

Recording information: Alpha Studios; Conway Studios; David Gamson Studios; David Gemson Studios; Ocean Way Studios; RPM Studios; Sunset sound Factory.

Photographer: Guzman/Rotterdam Conservatory Orquesta Tipica.

Arrangers: David Gamson; Me'Shell Ndegéocello; Wendy Melvoin.

There are times on Me'Shell Ndegéocello's second album where the funky hybrid of R&B and alt-pop that she laid down on her 1993 debut, Plantation Lullabies, actually seems to take on an ethereal quality. Beats and grooves float effortlessly out of the fluid rhythms, and Ndegéocello herself sings with a soothing reserve that was a little too deliberate on her previous work. And it's a better album because of it. Peace Beyond Passion is built around a triumvirate of songs addressing man's inhumanity toward man throughout the ages (with such heavy-handed titles as "Deuteronomy: Niggerman" and "Leviticus: Faggot"), but the real highlights of the set are a wry take on Bill Withers' "Who Is He and What Is He to You" and the ultra-smooth, slow-burning "Stay." It's new age soul that's as spiritually purifying as it is musically sophisticated. ~ Michael Gallucci

On her second album, Me'Shell NdegeOcello continues to use a seamless blend of funk, jazz, rap and soul as a bed for her sociosexual observations. There's a spiritual bent, as well, to PEACE BEYOND PASSION, in songs that take on racism, homophobia and other societal ills. The centerpieces of the album are three songs named for books of the Bible: "Deuteronomy: Niggerman," "Ecclesiastes: Free My Heart" and "Leviticus: Faggot."

The music is less hip-hop-oriented than that on her debut, PLANTATION LULLABIES, and fleshed-out with heavier jazz nuances and '70s funk shadings. It's helped along in those directions by saxophonist Joshua Redman (he played on the debut, too) and one-time Prince guitarist Wendy Melvoin. Their interplay with NdegeOcello, who swings confidently on bass, blurs many musical lines. NdegeOcello adds a Curtis Mayfield soul spin to a version of Bill Withers' "Who Is He And And What Is He To You," the one cover song here. Chunks of wah-wah guitar juice the beat along, while Paul Riser's aggressive string arrangement and Billy Preston's organ ensure the authenticity of this reading. minimize