Bitter.

The Leopard just had one of those long nights where you suddenly feel a little hopeless. You know - those evenings that morph into the darkest hours, where you’re lying in bed staring at the ceiling and you think about all those bad decisions you’ve made in life, loves that you lost and those heart crushing regrets, regrets, regrets.

I think this was all spurred on by listening to MeShell N’degeocello’s album, Bitter. It’s one of those records where one lover is pleading to the another in that starkly naked, almost unbearably vulnerable way. On songs like “Fool Of Me” and the title song, It’s almost like we’re listening in on a very intimate, private conversation between two lovers - literally sung in whispers. What makes Bitter especially penetrating is that N'degeocello takes on both sides, and looks at relationships without judgment from all angles.

In the way, it’s what keeps the music from feeling completely tragic. It’s saying that things are rarely what they seem. You begin to realize that yes, you made mistakes and sometimes you royally screwed up, but hopefully, your basic intentions were honest, if not thoughtful.

But still you still have wake up and go to work.

Matthew Rybicki - Happy Accident

Working on this album cover for the superb jazz bassist Matthew Rybicki a few years ago, The Leopard was struggling a little bit coming up with a strong visual. Did an ink drawing of Matthew, but it felt a bit static and just wasn’t “moving”. I scanned it into the computer and brought it into Illustrator and used the tool “Live Trace”, to clean up my ink lines a little and make my drawing a vector file and editable. At one point, I accidentally grabbed the figure and inadvertently “stretched” it. I was about to hit “undo” because it looked like a mistake to me

at first, but I noticed it created an interesting effect. All of the sudden the title “Driven” and the art made sense. I framed the top like a vintage album cover with a little scribble where the record logo might be. Matthew seemed to love it. It was just one of those things. Jazz, man.

Me'Shell Ndegéocello

In 1992, flushed with success, the  pop star Madonna did what any zillionaire phenomenon would do: start her own label, Maverick Records. There was quite a bit of speculation as to what artists Ms. Ciccone planned to sign, and when it was announced that a female sexually ambiguous African American bass playing songwriter who was formerly a member of New York’s Black Rock Coalition who had a nearly unpronounceable name would be the first artist to be released on her new roster, it was met with a collected “who?”

But that was a quick fix. Meshell Ndegeocello’s first CD, Plantation Lullabies, though wasn’t a breakthrough sales success, was a critical one that heralded a new, distinctive voice. She appeared on many best of the year lists 9 in 1993 and has since been nominated for 10 Grammys.

A master musician, Ndegeocello has gone on to write, produce, and play on many consistently superb discs since then. The Leopard’s personal favorite is Bitter, a musical confessional so personal if the songs weren’t so beautiful you’d think you were listening in on a lovers’ private conversation. (Click To hear "Bitter".)