MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO " THE OMNICHORD REAL BOOK "

L'Omnichord è stato sviluppato in Giappone negli anni '80 come accompagnamento elettronico di un musicista, incorporando una drum machine con controlli del ritmo e del tempo, un determinato numero di accordi suonabili e un nastro sintetizzatore "futuristico" sensibile al tocco. E sebbene abbia fan famosi—Brian Eno, Joni Mitchell e Damon Albarn, solo per citarne alcuni—è sempre stato uno strumento di nicchia: è fatto principalmente di plastica, sembra un giocattolo, e ora suona tanto economico quanto sembra. Nelle mani di un virtuoso esigente e proteiforme come Meshell Ndegeocello, immerso in una carriera decennale, l'Omnichord è diventato uno strumento per la scoperta di sé. tre programmi televisivi - BMF, Queen Sugar e Our Kind of People - contemporaneamente. Alla fine dei giorni di maratona trascorsi collaborando a distanza dalla sua casa di Brooklyn con un numero incalcolabile di artisti e dirigenti, si ritirava nella sua soffitta. Sola con i suoi pensieri e un Onnicordo di talento, scriveva, libera da aspettative, libera di trovare cose che non stava nemmeno cercando. MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO

Meshell Ndegeocello · The Omnichord Real Book

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO "COMET, COME TO ME"

Although Meshell Ndegeocello scored a few hits early in her career, the bassist, singer, and songwriter later opted to concentrate on more challenging material by exploring the politics of race and sex, among other topics. From her 1993 Maverick label debut through her releases of the 2010s for Naïve, she built a discography of recordings that defied classification through progressive mixtures of jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and rock. Initially held in regard primarily for her bass playing and bold lyrics, her songwriting, which often examined dark interpersonal issues, was just as exceptional.Michelle Lynn Johnson, born on August 29, 1968, spent the first few years of her life in Germany. Her father was both a military man and a jazz saxophonist. She relocated with her family to Virginia in the early '70s. As a youngster, Johnson developed an interest in music; during her teenage years, she began to play regularly in the clubs of Washington, D.C., but eventually settled down in New York City after a stint of studying music at Howard University. By this point, she was going by Me'Shell NdegéOcello — her adopted last name Swahili for "free like a bird." After auditioning for several bands, including Living Colour, NdegéOcello struck out on her own and often performed solo with just a bass, drum machine, and keyboard. In the early '90s, she was one of the first artists signed to Madonna's Warner-affiliated Maverick label.NdegéOcello's debut album, 1993's Plantation Lullabies, was produced with David Gamson, as well as with André Betts and Bob Power, and involved input from a wide range of musicians, including DJ Premier, Joshua Redman, Bill Summers, Wah-Wah Watson, and David Fiuczynski. An impressive first album, it spawned the hit "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" and received three Grammy nominations. A duet with John Mellencamp on a cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night," released a year later, brought her more mainstream attention; it peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO