“I hate bass player albums. It's an ugly instrument, solo-wise. Probably the only person I can tolerate is Marcus Miller”: Grammy-winning bassist Meshell Ndegeocello favors restraint over fretboard theatrics – but Marcus Miller (and Jaco) get a pass

Yes, Meshell Ndegeocello is an A-list bass player. She made that abundantly clear with the deep-pocket grooves and snakily soulful bottom-end commentary that powered her 1993 debut album, Plantation Lullabies.

From the funk snap of Soul on Ice to the weighty punch of If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night) and on through the supremely easy glide of Dred Loc, the diminutive Ndegeocello walked onto the pop scene as a big player irrefutably in command of her four strings. And she garnered four Grammy nominations in the process.

But despite her love for playing bass guitar, Ndegeocello can't stand showboating.

“I'm really awful about that,” she told Bass Player back in March 2012. “When I go to concerts to hear ‘famous’ bass players, I'm like, ‘I can't deal with it!’ Forty minutes of bass solos just ain't going to work for me.

“I don't own any bass player albums. I hate them. It's just an ugly instrument, solo-wise. Probably the only person I can tolerate is Marcus Miller.

“Jaco took it to a higher level, because he wasn’t just playing bass – something else came out of the instrument. His solo albums are beautiful, historic records. But I have too much respect for his craft and what he did to even attempt to make the bass sound that beautiful. I'm just not into the bass that way.

If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night) - YouTube

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“To me, the bass player is the one who looks good in the band – the best-dressed one who keeps the funk happening and is just kind of there. Please leave the solo to the trumpet player!”

Ndecello credits her discipline as a musician to both her father's training and her work with the D.C. go-go bands.

“My father had a jazz group and he had me sit in when his bass player didn't show up. He told me the more basic I was, the better I’d be. I remember going off on some tangent on one of the standards, and he just looked at me like, ‘Oh, you've lost your mind!’

“Playing in the go-go bands also teaches you to hold back; you're always running into these breaks – 84 bars of nothing and you just have to tell your hands, ‘I'm not going to play a note.’”

Meshell Ndegeocello: "Soul Record" | North Sea Jazz (1994) - YouTube

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Ndegeocello is fiercely dedicated to the idea that a bass should have only four strings, and she isn't interested in running hers through any pedals or effects. “I like a simple, basic sound – lean and accurate. I just like plain bass.”

Do you consider yourself a songwriter first or a bass player first?

I love the bass guitar – and the way I play is very much my personality. I'm all right standing way behind whoever's up front, just holding down a groove. I like to make everything lock, gel, and be funky.

Compositions move me more than anything, though – the construction of the song, and the lyric. My goal is to be a great writer, not a great bass player.

Which bass players do you admire?

Jaco's my hero because of his virtuosity and craft in composing and arranging. Of course his bass playing is way up there, but the songs are beautiful. Jaco Pastorius is the greatest bass record ever made, but Word of Mouth was a big part of me wanting to hear strings and orchestral sounds in my music.

Probably my favorite bass player when I was growing up was Prince. His basslines, like Let's Work, are like songs within themselves. Then there's Paul McCartney – an incredible songwriter and bass player.

Are there bassists you admire just for their playing?

Rodney ‘Skeet’ Curtis from P-Funk – put him way up on the list. Paul Jackson with the Headhunters – he sounds like a bass player. I also had a great mentor: Mike Neal, who played in a go-go band when I was growing up in D.C.

He played on Maxwell's first record. He's been my teacher as far as developing my bass personality and just holding it down. He always said, ‘You've got to know what not to play. Just hold it down – it's a waste of time if nobody can dance to it.’ I definitely got that slide stuff I do from him.

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What does writing bring to your bass playing?

Simplicity and flow. Bass is the harmonic and rhythmic foundation, and I like that. I like to make it feel good and give it a personality. I'm okay not being a solo bass artist; I don't want to be so alone. I'm never going to be Victor Wooten. That's not my gift; I didn't get virtuosity in bass playing.

What is your gift?

I have virtuosity in creativity. You can sit me onstage now with a drummer and I'll come up with a bassline. You can put me in any setting and I'll make it work. I can play with anybody: I could play with Incubus, with Lynyrd Skynyrd, or with Joshua Redman if he didn’t mind me playing electric.

You've had other bassists in your band. What do you look for in a bassist?

Someone who can play all styles and doesn't sound like a funk player trying to play a ballad. I'll go for the weaker musician if they're the better person. I've had some great cats that were horrible to deal with.

I'd rather go with the guy who can learn the part and who's steadfast, as long as he can approach the music like a child: with an openness and newness. It has to be someone I feel I can be on the road with 24 hours a day.