D’Angelo took us to bed…and to church

Sometimes life’s breath catches in time’s throat. Those fortunate enough to float inside one of these moments, with the air still and humming, don’t soon forget it. Religious folks have words for such spasmodic departures from the everyday, like beatitude, nirvana, ecstasy. Bliss.

Using the same descriptions for carnal matters tends to irritate the pious, but it isn’t improper in the least. They encapsulate human states that are simultaneously natural and unbelievable, pressing fingers against the skin of some cosmic chamber we trust to exist but can’t fully access in this life.

So we chase them, each in our way. One way of considering the musical legacy of D’Angelo, who died Tuesday, Oct. 14, of pancreatic cancer, is that he surrendered to the pursuit of that electric state, channeling