Musical gifts rescued Fontella Bass

1965 hit ‘Rescue Me’ started long career of musical exploration.

LOS ANGELES — There are two works that illustrate the range of Fontella Bass’ singing power.

One is a gut-busting soul cry, “Rescue Me,” a propellant R&B banger from 1965 that became Bass’ signature.

The other, equally vital, is a nine-minute thrill ride, “Theme de Yoyo,” which drives funk and boundary-busting jazz through one instrumental climax after another on the classic 1970 album “Les Stances a Sophie” from the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Any appreciation of Bass, who died at 72 in her hometown of St. Louis last week, must first acknowledge these two pieces of music.

Bass never achieved the fame that fellow belter Aretha Franklin did, but she charted an arguably more fascinating course through her musical life. Her stubborn vocal insistence in her early soul hits — “Rescue Me,” “Leave It in the Hands of Love” and “Our Day Will Come” — was mirrored in her artistic temperament. She chose aesthetic expansion over chart success at nearly every turn.

That independent spirit can be seen in the musicians with whom she chose to collaborate, including the Art Ensemble (the free-jazz collective that featured her then husband, the trumpeter Lester Bowie), the World Saxophone Quartet and David Murray in the 1970s and 1980s, and the Cinematic Orchestra in the 2000s.

Her early 1970s solo gem “Free” harnessed the power of the funk and soul music by Sly & the Family Stone, the Staple Singers and James Brown, and although that album wasn’t a hit at the time, it’s one of the overlooked pleasures of the era.

Like much of her music after the late ’60s, “Free” showcased a spirit that preferred loose, spatial structures to the constraints of pop songs. In that role, in fact, Bass’ voice and lyrics often were the structure, especially when anchoring instrumental chaos.

Bass was musical royalty in St. Louis, a city whose essential soul tradition is often overshadowed by neighbors Memphis to the south and Chicago to the north. Along with East St. Louis across the Mississippi River, the city had a vital