Me'Shell NdegéOcello – The Omnichord Real Book (2xLP)

Double LP

Grammy-winning singer, multi-instrumentalist makes her Blue Note Records debut!

Acclaimed Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer Meshell Ndegeocello makes her Blue Note Records debut with The Omnichord Real Book, a visionary and deeply jazz-influenced album that marks the start of a new chapter in her trailblazing and unpredictable career. Following her 2018 covers album Ventriloquism, Meshell returns with an album of new original material that taps into a broad spectrum of her musical roots.

Produced by saxophonist Josh Johnson, the album showcases some of Ndegeocello's frequent collaborators including Johnson, keyboardist Jebin Bruni, guitarist Chris Bruce, and drummers Abe Rounds and Deantoni Parks. Also appearing on various songs are an amazing cast of musicians that includes guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Joel Ross, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, harpist Brandee Younger, drummer Mark Guiliana, bassist Burniss Travis II, keyboardists Julius Rodriguez, Corey Henry, and Jason Moran, and vocalists Joan As Police Woman, Sanford Biggers, Hanna Benn, Thandiswa, and the HawtPlates (Justin Hicks, Kenita-Miller Hicks, and Jade Hicks).

Ndegeocello says that she tries to create music that musicians enjoy playing and that's open enough so that they can truly explore the music's rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic contours.

"I really love the musical interaction — the playing off of each other," she says. "It's such a divine experience. Playing music is one of the few spaces where I feel genderless and raceless. And when the audience can dance, move, and experience transcendence while we are playing live, it feels like I have purpose.

"The album's title derives, in part, from the Omnichord, an electronic instrument that produces an intriguing harp-like chiming timbre. Bruce gave an Omnichord to Ndegeocello as a gift during the pandemic while she was busy working on several television scores while in isolation. Composing so much on the computer, however, began taking its toll.

"I found that working on the computer started bringing my spirits down," Ndegeocello explains. "The Omnichord gave me a way to work out melodies and ideas without having to look at a screen. I've been working on computers since my fourth record. I wanted to stop looking at the music and just play and hear the music."

Ndegeocello goes on to say, "with this record, I'm moving from the dogma of religion, my parents, the American dream, and politics. I'm also moving from the musical dogma set on myself, which was that I am supposed to be funky, soulful, political, and all the other things all of the time. If this is my last project, I feel like it is the most authentic thing I have to offer."