by Michele Zipkin
Those who have come to know and love Meshell Ndegeocello for her genre-bending blend of contemporary jazz, soul, funk and hip-hop, will not be surprised by the fact that her latest record, Comet, Come to Me, breaks even more stylistically disparate ground compared to much of her previous output. The album boasts songs co-written by Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Doyle Bramhall, as well as recurring collaborators Chris Bruce, Jebin Bruni and Earl Harvin.
Though influenced by other bass players like Jaco Pastorius and Kim Deal, a wide variety of music has shaped Ndegeocello as a composer. “I like all styles of music, from Ghostface Killah to the Rolling Stones,” Ndegeocello says. “And I think all of that is in there in some type of way.”
The many musicians who have contributed their own styles to this record have made for a particularly personal and eclectic collection of songs. In addition to songwriters, Ndegeocello wrote with her neighbor Tom, a literary writer. Some of the lyrics in her songs are the poetry of Kenneth Fearing, who published primarily in the ’30s and ’40s.
Kaveh Rastegar, who performs with an improvisation group called Kneebody, plays bass in the song “Conviction,” while Ndegeocello takes the vocal lead and Worden sings background. “Kaveh is a big influence now,” she says. “His style is more like Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones.”
In writing the songs on Comet, Come to Me, Ndegeocello has shied away from playing her typically bumping funk bass lines to focus more on singing and being an MC. She is not going to play much bass on this tour, but will embrace the sort of freedom that comes from taking the microphone and letting her band mates take the instrumental helm. “Eventually you have to learn when to move onto something else. I like to try different things because I don’t think you grow if you just do what you know,” she says.
In her pursuit of different approaches to writing and performing music, Ndegeocello covered the song “Friends” by ‘80s hip-hop group Whodini, which can heard on this latest record. “No one covers hip-hop tunes, it’s hard to do,” she says. “I might cover a Roots song, I think they have the most musical experience of hip-hop.”
Though perhaps inconspicuous at first glance, the words in the title Comet, Come to Me are comprised of the same letters. It took root from one of Ndegeocello’s friends who dreams in puzzles. But comets in and of themselves hold particular significance to this seasoned musician. “The comet means so many different things to everybody, just like music,” she says.
She went on to explain that before the meaning of the comet became common knowledge, each race of people interpreted it in a different way. “Before they knew what it was, it meant famine was coming, or disease, or joy,” she says. “Each culture had these different [meanings,] and that’s how I feel about music- I’m like an orb circulating through the universe.”
Just as each society once deciphered the comet in their own way, the listener can interpret Comet, Come to Me as they wish- no one particular concept permeates the record. “The connection you find in it is your own,” Ndegeocello says. “You may think it’s highly personal to me, but aha- therein lies the joke. That’s the only concept.”
A wealth of influences and artistic hands, both musical and literary, have made Comet, Come to Me an album rife with multiple meanings, thus giving way to multiple interpretations. Each listen will most likely reveal something new. “Stylistically, if you remain open, you’ll find something else in there,” Ndegeocello says. “But it’s up to you.”
As part of her album release tour, Meshell Ndegeocello and band will perform at World Cafe Live this Friday, June 6th at 8 pm. They will play songs from Comet, Come to Me as well as tunes from past albums.
