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Apr 4, 2018The greatest strength of the album is that you don’t think of the original artists while Ndegeocello is singing. Some will feel she’s been reckless with beloved jams, others will fall in love with them all over again, and many will discover a new side of them even if they’ve heard the original a million times.
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Mar 22, 2018These are well-loved songs that Ndegeocello loves a little bit more, singing them with a rich, warm tone (she’s never sounded better) and backed by a band who know how to anticipate every bob and weave she might make. It’s one of her best.
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MojoMar 20, 2018Ndegeocello's covers album comprises wonderful takes on R&B and soul. [May 2018, p.98]
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Mar 16, 2018Meshell Ndegeocello has never been an artist to stay in anyone else's box, and on Ventriloquism, she shows that she can play any song and stay true to herself. Her musical sensibilities are about as close to flawless as it gets, her instincts finely honed and her style refreshingly indescribable.
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Mar 15, 2018The quartet, occasionally joined by players such as Doyle Bramhall II, Jeff Parker, and Levon Henry, roams fluidly through funk, roots music, and unclassifiable stylistic amalgamations, like they're doing so on an intuitive level.
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Mar 15, 2018It turns commonly held conceptions of canon on their head, implicitly asks for a more inclusive understanding of song craft, and—most of all--celebrates a group of songs that resonate in a variety of contexts and arrangements.
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Mar 15, 2018The results are frequently transformative, and always enjoyable.
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Mar 19, 2018Throughout the length of Ventriloquism, in Ndegeocello’s hands, no cover is ever mere lip service. A cover is an act of scholarship, an act of criticism, an act of intimacy. An act of love.
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Mar 15, 2018With tiny flourishes, Ndegeocello injects new meaning into each song she covers.
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Mar 16, 2018The result is curiously timeless. Soul, swing and funk classics of yesteryear become strange, new blooms under Ndegeocello’s care.