Grammy winner, musical trailblazer Meshell Ndegeocello comes to the Moss Arts Center

Susan Bland

28 Feb 2024

Musician Meshell Ndegeocello, a Black woman with shortly cropped natural hair and a star tatttooed near her right eye, stands outside near railroad tracks in the late fall or winter, wrapped in a camel-colored coat or large scarf. She looks towards the right of the frame, and some of the wooden tithes are covered in melting snow behind her. — Grammy winner Meshell Ndegeocello.

Spanning soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, and rock, Grammy winner Meshell Ndegeocello’s work is bound by the search for love, justice, respect, and resolution. The multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter brings her genre-defying, melodic, and poetic sounds to the Moss Arts Center on Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m.

Ndegeocello has defied and redefined the expectations for women, queer artists, and Black music for over 30 years, and she remains one of few women who write the music, sing the songs, and — bass in hand — lead the band. She has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer, eschewing genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musical trends for musical truths.

Ndegeocello received her most recent Grammy award in early February for her album “The Omnichord Real Book,” a visionary, expansive, and deeply jazz-influenced album that marks the start of a new chapter in her trailblazing career.

This performance is the final event of a series of performances hand-picked by North Carolina artist Shirlette Ammons, the center’s first independent guest performing arts curator. Ammons emphasizes the impact Ndegeocello’s debut album, “Plantation Lullabies,” had on her as a Black artist.

“Every song on Meshell’s inaugural masterpiece introduced me to the audacity of Black women who bum-rushed the patriarchy without invitation. I internalized every bassline and aligned myself with the Black writers and musicians overtly or covertly referenced,” Ammons said. “I became hip to the intersections of jazz, rock, go-go, soul, funk, and singer-songwriting as quintessential modes of Black storytelling.”

A bass player above all else, Ndegeocello brings her warm groove to everything she does and has played alongside the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, James Blood Ulmer, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Tony Allen, John Medeski, Billy Preston, and Chaka Khan.

Related events

Ammons will moderate ”All About the Voice,” a zoom conversation with Ndegeocello on Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. The online event is free, but registration is required.

Tickets

Tickets for the performance are $25 for general admission and $10 for students and youth 18 and under. Tickets can be purchased online; at the Moss Arts Center's box office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.

Venue and parking information

The performance will be held in the center’s Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located within the Street and Davis Performance Hall at 190 Alumni Mall. Convenient parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street and in downtown Blacksburg. Find more parking details online.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Jamie Wiggert at least 10 days prior to the event at 540-231-5300 or email wiggertj@vt.edu during regular business hours.