Meshell Ndegeocello Announces Star-Studded Covers Album “Synonym”
Meshell Ndegeocello has announced a new album, Synonym, due October 2nd on Blue Note Records. Although she is renowned for her original compositions, this project sees the masterful bassist and vocalist “reimagining and reconceptualizing a brilliantly curated collection of cover songs” with an incredible list of special guests.
Ndegeocello called on Cynthia Erivo, Cat Power, Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Bill Callahan, Chris Thile, Robert Glasper, Madison Cunningham, Laura Lee of Khruangbin, Lizz Wright, Emily King, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, Destin Conrad, ANOHNI, WILLOW, Evann McIntosh, and Ink. The album also reunites Ndegeocello with producer David Gamson, who worked with her on her groundbreaking albums Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond Passion.
“A rotating cast of instrumentalists also anchors the music on the album, many of whom are Ndegeocello’s close artistic conspirators,” Blue Note adds, “including drummers Rounds and Deantoni Parks; guitarist Chris Bruce; keyboardists Jake Sherman, Jebin Bruni, and Larry Goldings; saxophonists Josh Johnson and Levon Henry; flutist Elena Pinderhughes, banjoist Bela Fleck; and others.”
The first single, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” features Ndegeocello singing with Wicked star Cynthia Erivo. Their voices blend beautifully, and the bass has a soulful groove with a fat yet percussive tone.
Ndegeocello says the album title “feels good on the mouth,” but the true meaning goes deeper. A Synonym is a word that means the same thing as another word in the same language, Blue Note explains.
“That’s how humans are,” Ndegeocello says on the Blue Note website. “Regardless of our differences, deep down we essentially want the same things: healthy food and a safe place to live. We are all different. But at the core of the human condition, we are the same. This project is an expression of queer liberation as a synonym for liberation of all kinds. The queer community claimed me when others didn’t and for a long time that felt too far away from other communities to which I belong but now I recognize the ways in which it all overlaps. Once again, I went back to my elders: Audre Lorde told us that there is no single issue struggle. Similarly, these arrangements are synonyms for their originals – these different sounds still mean the same thing.”
Synonym marks Ndegeocello’s third Blue Note album, following 2023’s The Omnichord Real Book and 2024’s No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin. It is available for pre-order on CD and as a digital download (Apple Music, and Amazon Music).
Synonym Track List:
- “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” with Cynthia Erivo
- “Don’t You Want Me” with Cat Power
- “Don’t Stop The Music” with Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper
- “Islands In The Stream” with Chaka Khan
- “It Ain’t Me Babe” with Madison Cunningham
- “Always on Time” with Laura Lee
- “Be Real Black For Me” with Emily King, Lizz Wright
- “Don’t Look Any Further” with Lianne La Havas
- “The Closer I Get To You” with Destin Conrad, Moses Sumney
- “Golden Ring” with Brandi Carlile
- “I Got You Babe” with ANOHNI
- “Here We Come (Here He Comes)” with Evann McIntosh
- “Guilty” with Ink
- “Hunger Strike” with WILLOW
- “With God On Our Side” with Bill Callahan, Chris Thile
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
