Meshell Ndegeocello

A funk-filled trance. Or a soul-filled groove. Or a tight jam sailing an indigo sea. Psychedelic jazz. It’s hard to describe Meshell Ndegeocello’s music, but it was a great show.

I arrived around 9:30 pm on a wintery night, taking the D train from Herald Square. Already there were a dozen people in line and behind me it grew to over a hundred. All standing in the cold and staring at the Greenwich Village comedy club across the street, which had just sold out the 10 pm show.

Soon my colleague and friend Andres showed up to cheer up the waiting. They scanned our tickets while we were still outside in line. Then they announced an “internet failure” was causing a delay, so we waited outside until 10:30 pm. But it was worth it.

We had great seats against the wall just opposite the band and some friendly table mates.

It was a large band. Two keyboards set the mood with synthesized soundscapes. At the other end of the stage, a drummer with an amazing voice locked down the groove. Meshell sometimes played bass, but often left the duties to a 5-string player behind her. A guitar player added very tasty rhythm guitar, with a good sense of funk and soul guitar sounds. And a sax player and a wonderful male vocalist just to the left and right of Meshell.

In addition to the great tunes and performances, the sound was absolutely perfect. Meshell played the entire set bathed in the indigo blue light. Uplifting and innovative music, with a great sense of history. It was the last show of a six-night run and the musicians gave it their all.

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