Abel Selaocoe, a South African cellist and vocalist, captivated audiences with his unique blend of global, jazz, and classical sounds during his Tiny Desk performance. He shared his inspiring journey of teaching himself cello by drawing its strings on paper due to financial constraints. His performances are marked by dynamic bowing techniques and percussive fingerings, creating varied soundscapes. Singing mostly in Sesotho, he includes throat singing techniques and collaborates seamlessly with renowned artists like Yo-Yo Ma, pushing the boundaries of traditional cello music and forging a new path in the genre.
Unable to afford a real cello, Selaocoe drew the strings of the instrument on paper, then pasted it to his chest to practice the fingerings.
Selaocoe's adroit bowing and percussive fingering gives the cello a vast color palette, with sounds of flutes and drums.
His vocalizing, mostly in the Sesotho language, includes a kind of gravelly throat singing in which two or more pitches are produced.
In classical music, there are those who follow age-old traditions and that's just fine. But then there are those, like Selaocoe, who create brand-new traditions.
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