South African cellist Abel Selaocoe is redefining the parameters of the cello. He combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion. Abel moves seamlessly across a plethora of genres and styles, from collaborations with world musicians and beatboxers, to concerto performances. But his solo shamanic performances are something else: he directs all his energy at communicating with the audience. He is both entertainer and minister, but he is also a healer, expanding the potential of his cello, and singing with a virtuosity that is never undermined by playing to the audience, gently coaxing them to sing along rather than resorting to the cliche of a hand-clapping accompaniment.
He has become a master of various pieces of digital equipment that enable him to create backing tracks--vocal, instrumental and percussive--with which he can play and sing along, as well as layering the sound by doubling voice and cello tracks. It comes close at times to being an over used gimmick, and yet, he knows just when to pull back from dependence upon the wonders of audio technology. In an instant, he will return to a masterful stroke of the cello's bow or a plaintive undulation of spine-chilling voice.
Selaocoe's resonant throat-singing is a wonder to behold, never just a display, but a way of conjuring the spirits of the ancestors he mentions in his introductions and invites into his performances. In a way that is common to so much African music, from the song of a bush village through to gospel, soul and rap. Selaocoe's show is not just superb entertainment, but also a form of teaching: his message is explicitly about love, community and healing. He brings all three of these essential qualities of humanity together in a way that leaves the audience uplifted and transformed. The wonder of Abel Selaocoe is that he can make any venue feel like a sacred gathering place.
He has become a master of various pieces of digital equipment that enable him to create backing tracks--vocal, instrumental and percussive--with which he can play and sing along, as well as layering the sound by doubling voice and cello tracks. It comes close at times to being an over used gimmick, and yet, he knows just when to pull back from dependence upon the wonders of audio technology. In an instant, he will return to a masterful stroke of the cello's bow or a plaintive undulation of spine-chilling voice.
Selaocoe's resonant throat-singing is a wonder to behold, never just a display, but a way of conjuring the spirits of the ancestors he mentions in his introductions and invites into his performances. In a way that is common to so much African music, from the song of a bush village through to gospel, soul and rap. Selaocoe's show is not just superb entertainment, but also a form of teaching: his message is explicitly about love, community and healing. He brings all three of these essential qualities of humanity together in a way that leaves the audience uplifted and transformed. The wonder of Abel Selaocoe is that he can make any venue feel like a sacred gathering place.
His debut album Where is Home? Hae Ke Kae on the subject of home and refuge was released in September 2022. It's dual title, in English and Sesotho, reflects the album's diverse program which draws from vibrant European and African influences: pieces inspired by South African and Tanzanian musical tradition share a space with works by J.S. Bach and Giovanni Benedetto Platti, some of which are renewed with instrumental and lyrical improvisations. The title of the album holds multifaceted significance for the Manchester-based musician: "Home is the place that empowers you; it's not only a geographical place but in people as well, where you can live a life of empowerment and not of oppression. I've learned to find my different homes through the cello." Abel Selaocoe represents Africa on the move.
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