Jazz metamorphosis: Meshell talks about the jazz journey of her latest albums--and why she converted to Islam.

To most interview questions, Meshell Ndegeocello gives polite but ultraconcise answers. Ask a question even remotely about her personal life, and she clams up completely. But offer the bass-playing singer-songwriter--known for her distinctive brand of soul-funk stylings--a chance to talk about Dance of the Infidel, her new, mostly instrumental jazz album, and she becomes engaged and expansive.

The song "Aquarium," for example--a charming tune sung by Brazilian Girls vocalist Sabina--she tells you "is about an existential crisis." Then there's "Papillon," which she based on the 1973 movie starring Steve McQueen: "He's just constantly in a cage, in a prison ... still searching for what freedom means to him." The title song? "Everyone is an infidel. You're always going to be an outsider, no matter what. That's why you seek community."

Finally, she says, the album "ends with heaven ["When Did You Leave Heaven," the only composition the 35-year-old Ndegeocello didn't write, with a vocal by Lalah Hathaway] because, you know, it's just the most romantic song. It should end in a dreamy way, take you away into a dreamland."

Since she first took center stage in 1993 with the album Plantation Lullabies, Ndegeocello's intrigued us with her combination of political outrage (such as her antihomophobia anthem, "Leviticus: Faggot") and steamy sensuality (try any number of her deep, sultry vocal ballads as bedroom enticement). She's been bold, inventive, uncompromising--an artist in a popular music landscape overrun with poseurs.

She never hid her bisexuality. We learned she had given birth to a son in her early 20s and now had a girlfriend--first choreographer Winifred Harris and later Rebecca Walker, the gifted writer and daughter of Alice Walker. By the end of 2003, Ndegeocello spoke of having gone through a "relationship transition" with Walker--although she still has a prominent tattoo on her neck spelling out REBECCA.

She doesn't hide the tattoo, but she now regrets having opened up about her life. "I regret not cherishing something," she says. "Because that's my personal life, and personal life isn't for other people's impressions or insights. My personal life is my haven, my sanctuary, so I'm going to treat it as such."

She's willing to talk at least briefly, though, about her conversion to Islam. "I was guided to it," she says. "The words. The ideas." She has a new Arabic name, Meshell Suihailia Bashir Shakur, under which she's credited for producing and composing the new CD.

So what name do her friends use? "I don't want the people who don't know me [to know]," she says slyly. Then she jokes, "I'm sure it varies on different days--depending on the mood I'm in."

Musically, Ndegeocello has been exploring a variety of moods and grooves--hip-hop, jazz, Afrocentric sounds, Motown. For her latest effort, she formed the Spirit Music Jamia ensemble, which she'll tour with. "We are really a jazz band--when you come [see us], you're getting our mood, our coloring, our feelings, our thoughts on that day. There's always something different, every time."

Her creativity keeps her moving at warp speed. For Infidel, Ndegeocello worked with such stellar players as Jack DeJohnette, Oran Coltrane (the son of John), and singer Cassandra Wilson, who smolders on "The Chosen." Then there are side projects with Pat Metheny, Paul Simon, and African singer Oumou Sangare. She's also planning her own next album, to be recorded with drummer Chris Dave this summer.

"When you're a musician, that's pretty much your life," says Meshell. "I just hope to keep playing as much as I can, keep some great musicians playing, and see the world. And that's been the best gift in life."

Kort is the author of Dinah! Three Decades of Sex, Golf, and Rock 'n' Roll and senior editor at Ms. magazine.