Meshell Ndegeocello doesn’t fit neatly into any “jazz” label - or any label of any kind for that matter. She’s a phenomenal bass player, deep songwriter, beautiful interpreter of song, wonderful band leader and has had one bad ass career. It’s fitting that after a circuitous journey through the industry that started as one of the premiere artists on the Madonna helmed Maverick Records in the early 90s, that she’s now released two albums on Blue Note Records under Don Was.

The first was last year’s The Omnichord Real Book — a project with a fascinating origin we’ll be discussing on today’s episode. The latest is 2024’s No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin … a tribute to two of the great Black American writers and thinkers of the last century: James Baldwin and Audre Lorde.

That might sound heady but consider the source: Meshell is the product of a Washington DC upbringing … a city awash in culture like Go-Go Music and also politics, think tanks and the like. Like her DC home, Meshell’s a great synthesizer of music and ideas.

Joining Meshell, Don Was and myself in our chat is Abe Rounds … an in-demand drummer and musician who’s been playing with Meshell since she picked him out of Berklee College of Music. And has also worked closely with Andrew Bird, Nick Hakim, Blake Mills and many more. In today’s episode he helps us gain some valuable insight into what it’s like to be a close collaborator of Meshell Ndgeocello’s.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Meshell Ndegeocello songs HERE.

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Ep. 152: Joe Patane