BBC Music Magazine
November 2022
Chamber Choice

Presto Editor's Choice
September 2022

Abel Selaocoe (cello)

1. Ibuyile L'Africa (Africa Is Back)
2. Dipolelo (Recite)
3. Zawose (For Hukwe Zawose)
4. I. Adagio
5. II. Allegro
6. III. Largho
7. IV. Presto
8. Hlokomela (Take Care)
9. Qhawe (Hero)
10. Lerato (Love)
11. Seipone (Mirror)
12. IV. Sarabande
13. Invocation
14. Ka Bohaleng (On the Sharp Side)
15. IV. Sarabande
16. Ancestral Affirmations

"Here’s a star in the making, a brilliant instrumentalist, an inventive singer and an assured performer who can draw the audience into the palm of his hand"

Tim Cumming, The Arts Desk, January 2022

“…can’t think of one who radiates so much heart and joy as Abel Selaocoe... winningly combines his cello with throat singing, improvising, exhorting the audience to shout or clap, and treating his body as a percussion instrument."

Geoff Brown, The Times, August 2021

• South African cellist Abel Selacoe combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing, and body percussion

• He has a special interest in curating concert programs that link non-Western and Western music and move seamlessly across genres and styles

• This debut album weaves threads between baroque music (J.S. Bach, Giovanni Platti, Joseph Dall’abaco), his own compositions and South African hymns

"Bach and Platti are seamlessly interwoven with music from Selaocoe's native South Africa to form a rich and unique tapestry on this arresting, unmissable debut album, which sees him exploiting virtually every sonic possibility his instrument can offer (try Zawose, where Selaocoe imitates the Tanzanian zeze) as well as serving powerful expressive vocals and percussion along the way. The exuberant Qhawe ('Hero') and the closing Ancestral Affirmations stand out, but everything here exudes charisma and conviction." - Katherine Cooper, Presto Music, September 2022.