The Berklee 2005-2006 Concert Series Continues with Me’Shell NdegéOcello
at the Berklee Performance Center, Thursday, November 3, 2005 Boston, MA, September
19, 2005 - The Berklee 2005-2006 Concert Series continues November 3 at the Berklee Performance Center with acclaimed bassist Me’Shell NdegéOcello.
General admission tickets are $25 ($18.75 seniors), and may be purchased at
the Berklee box office or through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com. For
ticket information, please call 617-747-2261 or visit www.berkleebpc.com. For
season tickets to the series, call 617-747-2409. The Berklee Performance Center
is located at 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA, and is wheelchair accessible.
Berklee is pleased to welcome WGBH 89.7 FM, Boston's NPR arts and culture station,
as the series’ media sponsor.
NdegéOcello, whose constantly evolving stylistic repertoire has earned
her the reputation as one of the most fearless artists in contemporary
music, will be performing her songbook with a Berklee student band,
directed by faculty guitarist David Fiuczynski. Fiuczynski is
bandleader and primary songwriter for the Screaming Headless Torsos,
and has performed and recorded with artists including John Zorn, Vernon
Reid, Branford Marsalis, Stewart Copeland, and many others.
A talented singer, bassist, and multi-instrumentalist, NdegéOcello was
born in Berlin, and raised in Washington, D.C. Meshell Suihailia
Bashir Shakur adopted the name NdegéOcello, which means "free like
a
bird," while in her teens. Incorporating funk, soul, hip-hop, reggae,
rock, and jazz, she has been hailed in the music press as a redeemer of
soul music, and has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards.
NdegéOcello honed her chops on the D.C. Go-Go circuit in the late
1980’s before emerging as a solo artist with her 1993 debut, Plantation
Lullabies, on Maverick/Sire Records. Her music has been featured on a
number of film soundtracks, including How Stella Got Her Groove Back
and Batman and Robin, and on recordings by Basement Jaxx and The Blind
Boys of Alabama, among others. NdegéOcello hit big with the song “Wild
Night,” a duet with John Mellencamp, which reached #3 on the Billboard
charts.
Her singles "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night),"
"Leviticus: Faggot," and "Who Is He and What Is He To You?"
have all
charted in the Billboard Top 20. She also sang backup vocals on
Madonna’s song "I'd Rather be Your Lover," on the album Bedtime
Stories.
NdegéOcello, Patty Larkin, and the Yellowjackets are among the featured
artists in the eight-part Berklee 2005 – 2006 Concert Series, which
showcases a variety of music genres, including jazz, rock, gospel, R&B,
and folk.
Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle
that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through
the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century,
the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of
music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and
nonperformance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing
over 70 countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee
is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and
tomorrow.
