Abel Selaocoe
& the Bantu Ensemble
South African cellist who will leave you on a high.
“No one else makes a cello sing like this,” wrote The Times about cellist Abel Selaocoe. Since his 2021 debut at the world’s largest classical music festival, the BBC Proms, Selaocoe’s captivating energy, powerful voice, and dynamic cello have resonated in performances with symphony orchestras and in clubs alike.
The cellist sings in Southern Sotho and Zulu languages, creating rhythms with his cello and body percussion, before launching into compositions inspired by Giovanni Platti and Bach.
Together with the Bantu Ensemble, the music reaches soaring levels of energy. The ensemble consists of Alan Keary on bass, Fred Thomas on piano, and multi-instrumentalist Dudù Kouaté, an expert in traditional African percussion. Together, they move seamlessly through genres and styles, with Abel as a charismatic frontman whose musicianship knows no bounds.
Abel Selaocoe & the Bantu Ensemble. Photo: Matthew Johnson
“a musician who can line up a lush, string-ensemble arrangement of a Bach Cello Suite movement (period purists beware) next to driving rhythms from Mali and Niger and, of course, songs and hymns from his South African birthplace” – THE STRAD on Abel Selaocoe
Contributors
Abel Selaocoe cello, vocals
Alan Keary bass guitar, vocals
Dudù Kouaté percussion, vocals
Fred Thomas piano, percussion, vocals
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