Mercurial and masterful, Meshell Ndegeocello has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musicals trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as ...
Mercurial and masterful, Meshell Ndegeocello has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musicals trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as she entered - unequivocally herself. Fans have come to expect the unexpected from Meshell, and faithfully followed her on sojourns into soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock, all bound by a...
Mercurial and masterful, Meshell Ndegeocello has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musicals trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as she entered - unequivocally herself. Fans have come to expect the unexpected from Meshell, and faithfully followed her on sojourns into soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock, all bound by a lyrical, spiritual search for love, justice, respect, resolution, and happiness.
Groove driven, infectiously melodic and lyrically meditative, Meshell’s latest album, Comet, Come To Me, finds her returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. Her 11th release, it is possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass. The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), and Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
“Comet, Come To Me was a little labor but a lot of love. It was made with my favorite collaborators, and it felt good to channel the sounds in my mind after having Nina in residence for a while,” says Meshell, referencing her last album, a tribute to Nina Simone. The collaborative process that comes with making an album especially inspires her. “When I’m writing songs and recording the demos, I’m having my own awesome experience in my attic, or on a plane, or in a hotel room, just making my beats on my laptop. Then I get together with these people that I have an intimate musical relationship with, and we bring the songs to life.”
In addition to the twelve new tracks on Comet, Come to Me (15 including the bonus tracks available on her website), fans of Meshell’s will no doubt be intrigued by her cover of Whodini’s “Friends”, a seminal hip-hop track originally released in 1984. Commenting on her inspiration for choosing this song, Meshell explains: “I play with a lot of people who play improvisational music and jazz, and I thought it would be fun to take something that they might think of as easy or straight-forward, and do something different with it. I also like how language is morphing, and 'friends' is such a malleable word, I don't even know what it means anymore.”
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall.
Mercurial and masterful, Meshell Ndegeocello has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musicals trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as she entered - unequivocally herself. Fans have come to expect the unexpected from Meshell, and faithfully followed her on sojourns into soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock, all bound by a lyrical, spiritual search for love, justice, respect, resolution, and happiness.
Groove driven, infectiously melodic and lyrically meditative, Meshell’s latest album, Comet, Come To Me, finds her returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. Her 11th release, it is possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass. The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), and Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
“Comet, Come To Me was a little labor but a lot of love. It was made with my favorite collaborators, and it felt good to channel the sounds in my mind after having Nina in residence for a while,” says Meshell, referencing her last album, a tribute to Nina Simone. The collaborative process that comes with making an album especially inspires her. “When I’m writing songs and recording the demos, I’m having my own awesome experience in my attic, or on a plane, or in a hotel room, just making my beats on my laptop. Then I get together with these people that I have an intimate musical relationship with, and we bring the songs to life.”
In addition to the twelve new tracks on Comet, Come to Me (15 including the bonus tracks available on her website), fans of Meshell’s will no doubt be intrigued by her cover of Whodini’s “Friends”, a seminal hip-hop track originally released in 1984. Commenting on her inspiration for choosing this song, Meshell explains: “I play with a lot of people who play improvisational music and jazz, and I thought it would be fun to take something that they might think of as easy or straight-forward, and do something different with it. I also like how language is morphing, and 'friends' is such a malleable word, I don't even know what it means anymore.”
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall.
Mercurial and masterful, Meshell Ndegeocello has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musicals trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as she entered - unequivocally herself. Fans have come to expect the unexpected from Meshell, and faithfully followed her on sojourns into soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock, all bound by a lyrical, spiritual search for love, justice, respect, resolution, and happiness.
Groove driven, infectiously melodic and lyrically meditative, Meshell’s latest album, Comet, Come To Me, finds her returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. Her 11th release, it is possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass. The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), and Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
“Comet, Come To Me was a little labor but a lot of love. It was made with my favorite collaborators, and it felt good to channel the sounds in my mind after having Nina in residence for a while,” says Meshell, referencing her last album, a tribute to Nina Simone. The collaborative process that comes with making an album especially inspires her. “When I’m writing songs and recording the demos, I’m having my own awesome experience in my attic, or on a plane, or in a hotel room, just making my beats on my laptop. Then I get together with these people that I have an intimate musical relationship with, and we bring the songs to life.”
In addition to the twelve new tracks on Comet, Come to Me (15 including the bonus tracks available on her website), fans of Meshell’s will no doubt be intrigued by her cover of Whodini’s “Friends”, a seminal hip-hop track originally released in 1984. Commenting on her inspiration for choosing this song, Meshell explains: “I play with a lot of people who play improvisational music and jazz, and I thought it would be fun to take something that they might think of as easy or straight-forward, and do something different with it. I also like how language is morphing, and 'friends' is such a malleable word, I don't even know what it means anymore.”
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall.
Mercurial and masterful, Meshell Ndegeocello has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musicals trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as she entered - unequivocally herself. Fans have come to expect the unexpected from Meshell, and faithfully followed her on sojourns into soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock, all bound by a lyrical, spiritual search for love, justice, respect, resolution, and happiness.
Groove driven, infectiously melodic and lyrically meditative, Meshell’s latest album, Comet, Come To Me, finds her returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. Her 11th release, it is possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass. The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), and Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
“Comet, Come To Me was a little labor but a lot of love. It was made with my favorite collaborators, and it felt good to channel the sounds in my mind after having Nina in residence for a while,” says Meshell, referencing her last album, a tribute to Nina Simone. The collaborative process that comes with making an album especially inspires her. “When I’m writing songs and recording the demos, I’m having my own awesome experience in my attic, or on a plane, or in a hotel room, just making my beats on my laptop. Then I get together with these people that I have an intimate musical relationship with, and we bring the songs to life.”
In addition to the twelve new tracks on Comet, Come to Me (15 including the bonus tracks available on her website), fans of Meshell’s will no doubt be intrigued by her cover of Whodini’s “Friends”, a seminal hip-hop track originally released in 1984. Commenting on her inspiration for choosing this song, Meshell explains: “I play with a lot of people who play improvisational music and jazz, and I thought it would be fun to take something that they might think of as easy or straight-forward, and do something different with it. I also like how language is morphing, and 'friends' is such a malleable word, I don't even know what it means anymore.”
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall.
Mercurial and masterful, Meshell Ndegeocello has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She has eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musicals trends for musical truths. She has lived through the boom and bust of the industry and emerged just as she entered - unequivocally herself. Fans have come to expect the unexpected from Meshell, and faithfully followed her on sojourns into soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock, all bound by a lyrical, spiritual search for love, justice, respect, resolution, and happiness.
Groove driven, infectiously melodic and lyrically meditative, Meshell’s latest album, Comet, Come To Me, finds her returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. Her 11th release, it is possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass. The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), and Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
“Comet, Come To Me was a little labor but a lot of love. It was made with my favorite collaborators, and it felt good to channel the sounds in my mind after having Nina in residence for a while,” says Meshell, referencing her last album, a tribute to Nina Simone. The collaborative process that comes with making an album especially inspires her. “When I’m writing songs and recording the demos, I’m having my own awesome experience in my attic, or on a plane, or in a hotel room, just making my beats on my laptop. Then I get together with these people that I have an intimate musical relationship with, and we bring the songs to life.”
In addition to the twelve new tracks on Comet, Come to Me (15 including the bonus tracks available on her website), fans of Meshell’s will no doubt be intrigued by her cover of Whodini’s “Friends”, a seminal hip-hop track originally released in 1984. Commenting on her inspiration for choosing this song, Meshell explains: “I play with a lot of people who play improvisational music and jazz, and I thought it would be fun to take something that they might think of as easy or straight-forward, and do something different with it. I also like how language is morphing, and 'friends' is such a malleable word, I don't even know what it means anymore.”
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall.
Hot on the heels of a stellar year that saw the release of Meshell Ndegeocello’s 11th studio album, Comet, Come to Me, the talented and versatile artist has added another title to her musical resume – that of a Grammy Nominated album producer.
Ndegocello shares in not one but two Grammy nominations this year, both for her role as record producer: Jason Moran’s All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller (Blue Note Records), co-produced with Don Was and nominated for “Best Jazz Instrumental Album”; and Ruthie Foster’s Promise of a Brand New Day (Blue Corn Music), which was nominated for “Best Blues Album”.
Moran’s All Rise is the studio culmination of a project that was born onstage, thanks to a commission for Moran to create a tribute to Waller from New York’s Harlem Stage Gatehouse. Ndegeocello's presence guaranteed that All Rise—and by extension, Waller's kinetic swing—would be infused with the contemporary kineticism of R&B and hip-hop.
“I decided it should be a dance party,” explains Moran. “If you think about Fats, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines—all of them were making the popular sounds of their era: dance music. That's when I reached out to Meshell. She was my only choice.”
For Foster’s Promise of a Brand New Day, the blues artist put Meshell Ndegeocello fully in charge, letting the lauded singer and bassist call the shots regarding players, takes and mixing. “I wanted this album to highlight Ruthie’s voice and also communicate her vibe, give a fuller picture of her artistry and ability,” explains Ndegeocello, who also played bass on the album, and who and enlisted her regular guitarist, Chris Bruce (Sheryl Crow), and keyboardist Jebin Bruni (Aimee Mann) to join them in the studio, along with drummer Ivan Edwards, backing vocalist Nayanna Holley, and special guests guitarist Doyle Bramhall II and singer Toshi Reagon.
Meshell Ndegeocello’s first video from her new album Comet, Come to Me, is the groove driven, reflective and melodic “Shopping For Jazz”. The video debuted Friday via Entertainment Weekly, who described it as “…combining a bossa nova foundation with a country slide guitar and slinky soul vocals.” Watch and share the video HERE.
This is Meshell’s 11th release, possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass.
The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) Detroit soul-funk player Amp Fiddler, Laurel Canyon psychedelicist Jonathan Wilson and Texas blues rocker Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), with Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall. Meshell will also be performing a select number of Midwest and West Coast dates. Head below to check out the dates.
Listen to "All Things Considered" Feature HERE
"Gravitationally irresistible" - NPR
"Comet, Come to Me is one of those rich works that keeps changing inside the listener's head — an often-quiet set of songs with intense staying power." - NPR
Groove driven, infectiously melodic and lyrically meditative, the new album Comet, Come To Me finds Meshell Ndegeocello returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. Her 11th release, it is possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass. Courtesy of NPR First Listen, stream the entire album in full HERE.
The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) Detroit soul-funk player Amp Fiddler, Laurel Canyon psychedelicist Jonathan Wilson and Texas blues rocker Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), with Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall.
New Album Comet, Come To Me Out June 3rd via Naïve;
Available as Pre-Order Now on Meshell.com
Meshell to Perform “Secret Show” For 100 People May 30th in Los Angeles, Hosted by “All Things Considered”
East Coast Tour Kicks Off June 3 in NYC!
Plus, Special “Guest Appearance” Playing Bass w/Jef Barbara in NYC May 16 @ Pianos (7pm)
Originally released thirty years ago by the hip hop trio Whodini, the classic track “Friends” has been given new life on Meshell Ndegeocello’s new album, Comet, Come To Me. Please listen and share the track, courtesy of Vibe (HERE).
Known for recording and performing intriguing covers, Meshell notes that hip-hop tracks are particularly interesting to her as a musician. “I grew up listening to hip-hop, and I get mad at my peers and older people who are not really open to modern music, especially rap music. I wanted to show how intricate the music is, if you really listen deeply. On this track, for example, if you take away the vocals, it's got really intricate things going on. There's keyboard element, which on my version is the guitar. And then they added a half beat to each bar, which is why it has a kind of shift in it. "There's something in music called "chopped and screwed” where you "screw" the track, which I wanted to emulate. If you hear the original version on the record, you'll understand."
She also found the track to be of particular interest in the age of Facebook friends. "I find the co-opting of the word "friends" lately to be very interesting. Language is morphing, and 'friends' is such a malleable word, I don't even know what it means anymore.”
Groove driven, infectiously melodic and lyrically meditative, Comet, Come To Me, finds her returning to the same well of creativity that launched her career. Her 11th release, it is possibly a culmination of all previous work: lush, vocal, seeking, wise, collaborative, and driven by the signature bounce and precise pocket of Ndegeocello on bass.
The album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), and Earl Harvin on drums. Assured of her place as an authentic musical thinker and an uncompromising artist, Comet continues to discover, examine, and explore all that music has to offer her and how she can return the gift.
In addition to her own recording, Meshell has been expanding her repertoire as a producer, producing three albums in the past year: British/Trinidadian poet and musician Anthony Joseph's new album, Time; Jason Moran's Fats Waller Tribute, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller (due Sept 2014); and a new album by Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster, also set for release this fall.
New Album, Comet, Come To Me, Coming in June!
Look for Comet, Come To Me to start with bass lines and finish in space. Groove driven, infectiously melodic, and lyrically meditative, this album continues the path of music's funkiest seeker.
“Comet, Come To Me was a little labor but a lot of love,” says Meshell. “It was made with my favorite collaborators, and it felt good to channel the sounds in my mind after having Nina in residence for a while.”
Meshell’s 11th studio album features special guests Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, along with long-time collaborators Christopher Bruce (guitar) and Jebin Bruni (keys), and Earl Harvin on drums.
Meshell and her band recently spent an afternoon in the studio with The Boombox, where they recorded a live performance of several tracks, and where Meshell spoke about her writing and recording process, as well as her influences (Nick Drake, Prince) and the randomness of music. Check out the interview, along with some in-studio performance clips from the new album here.
More info on Comet, Come to Me will be revealed shortly – stay tuned!