Me'shell Ndegeocello

Meshell Ndegeocello is an African-American singer, bassist and multi-instrumentalist. Born in the late 1960s in Berlin but raised in Washington DC, Meshell Suihailia Bashir Shakur adopted the name Ndegeocello, which means "free like a bird" while still in her teens. She has been hailed in the music press as a redeemer of soul music. Her music incorporates funk, soul, hip-hop, reggae, rock and jazz into an amalgam uniquely her own. She has been nominated for 9 Grammys.

Ndegeocello honed her chops on the D.C. Go go circuit in the late 1980s before venturing out as a solo artist. She emerged as a recording artist in 1993 on Maverick/Sire Records with her debut, Plantation Lullabies. This recording presented a remarkable musical maturity as well as a distinctly androgynous persona. Her music has been featured in a number of film soundtracks including How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Batman and Robin as well as on recordings by The Basement Jaxx and The Blind Boys of Alabama, among others. Her biggest hit is a duet with John Mellencamp, a cover version of Van Morrison's "Wild Night", which reached #3.

Discography

• Plantation Lullabies Maverick, 1993
• Peace Beyond Passion Maverick, 1996
• Bitter Maverick, 1999
• Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape Maverick, 2002
• Comfort Woman Maverick, 2003

Collaborators

The following additional musicians are featured on the recording Peace Beyond Passion:

• drums: Oliver Gene Lake
• guitar: Wah Wah Watson, Wendy Melvoin, Alan Cato, David Fiuczynski
• percussion: Daniel Sadownick, Federico Gonzalez Pena, Luis Conte
• drum programming: David Gamson
• horns: Joshua Redman
• bass clarinet: Bennie Maupin
• organ: Billy Preston
• rhodes: Federico Gonzalez Pena
• string arrangements: Paul Riser
• production: David Gamson

Official web site: http://www.meshell.com/