18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com Musically and personally, Meshell Ndegeocello has always defied definitions and boundaries. She chose her own surname, Swahili for “free bird,” as a teenager (pronounced en-deh-gay-oh-cello). She is a bassist who is also up front as a bandleader and singer. She is a poet and a thinker in dialogue with artists both historic and contemporary. Even her take on politics sets her outside of the mainstream: “I was brought up not to be of the world,” she says. “I see politics for what it is, or as my father used to say, it is the ugly man’s Hollywood.” Musically, she goes seamlessly from R&B and soul to something much harder to define. Her 2024 record, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, is as much a literary journey as a musical one, and won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Alternative Jazz album. Following Baldwin and 2023’s The Omnichord Real Book, Ndegeocello is set to release her third Blue Note album, Synonym, on Oct. 2. It’s a collection of covers of famous songs from “Islands in the Stream” to her current favorite, Bob Dylan’s “God on Our Side.” Ndegeocello is this year’s commission artist for the Monterey Jazz Festival, and performs on Saturday night. The bassist will be joined by a band of all bassists. Weekly: “America 250” is the theme the Monterey Jazz Festival gave for your commission piece. How are you approaching that complicated theme? Ndegeocello: Coming off of the Baldwin, it’s very aligned. When the offer came, before the Fourth of July, I was watching everything ramp up and it was permeating the culture. What inspired me was a great Atlantic article. It was fascinating to me, the history and backstory of America juxtaposed to “The StarSpangled Banner,” which won in a national polling contest. Mine is sort of a play on America, through my lens. I cowrote it with Justin Hicks, he and I have been writing so much together. I am more of a poet than a lyricist. I can really distill an idea; I love how Justin can really make it flow. I wrote two songs, inspired by the Atlantic magazine article and Billy Joel. Here you are writing in dialogue with the national anthem, a couple of years after your dialogue with James Baldwin, a great essayist and novelist. What was that process like? Baldwin came to me as a commission from the Harlem Stage. I had been familiar with Baldwin—I had read essays, Notes of a Native Son, and [the novel] Giovanni’s Room. But I had never read The Fire Next Time. I lived with that book for a year-and-a-half in my pocket. It was like the parent I never had. It was a window into the past and at the same time, a forklift out of it. It just really helped me have more grace toward my parents. When I finally got into reading Baldwin just a few years ago, I was deeply moved—and also angry. I feel betrayed by an American public education system that allowed me to attend school without ever reading him. I knew all the Shakespearean sonnets, I knew all the Disney books. I was a voracious reader—I taught my mother to read. The Baldwin thing, it just allowed me grace for all people. Your record really elevates his words, and combined with your writing and Justin Hicks’ writing, it is just an emotional listening experience. I was born in ’68. Civil rights is only as old as I am. I am from a generation that has you believe, “I can do anything, I can be anything.” I got to my 40s and realized, these things are happening because of systemic racism. Thank god I have music to move me through class. Baldwin just really educated me about my place in the world. CHARLIE GROSS Monterey Jazz Festival 2026 Meshell Ndegeocello shies away from musical trends. “Pop music is not as interesting,” she says. “I am more so trying to have a livelihood that I feel sincere about.” Style Guide Bassist/composer/vocalist Meshell Ndegeocello has always charted her own musical course. By Sara Rubin
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