Where Is Home (Hae Ke Kae)

by Abel Selaocoe

Overview

Various musicians from Africa have made an impact on the European scene, but it is safe to say none have been quite like South Africa's Abel Selaocoe (se-LAU-chay), who made his way from a township near Johannesburg to the Royal Northern College of Music. Selaocoe and his cello play pieces from various African traditions, featuring improvisation, body percussion, group singing in religious pieces that somehow seem at the heart of the whole thing. Many of these are inflected in a European direction, not only by the presence of the cello. Yo-Yo Ma, no stranger to cultural fusions, adds a beautiful line to the opening Ibuvile, but most interesting perhaps are the European classical pieces, which are inflected toward Africa. A cello sonata by Giovanni Benedetto Platti features a continuo group enlivened by the presence of a Malian kora. Best of all may be the Sarabande from Bach's Suite No. 3 for solo cello in C major, BWV 1009, which melts into an African song, and then back into Bach. The ensemble pieces feature members of Selaocoe's cohort from Manchester, and although there are solo pieces, the whole thing has a very collaborative African aspect. This is not only an engaging piece of music-making but one that people will be studying in decades to come. It's marred only by over-intimate sound. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	11/04/2022
Label:	Warner Classics
UPC:	0190296224287
Rank:	37652

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Abel Selaocoe   Primary Artist,Cello,Vocals,Percussion
Colin Alexander   Cello
Yo-Yo Ma   Cello
Kadialy Kouyate   Kora
Simran Singh   Violin
Fred Thomas   Piano,Percussion,Double Bass,Piano,Percussion,Double Bass
Elizabeth Kenny   Theorbo
Max Baillie   Viola,Violin
Rakhvinder Singh   Violin
Mamadou Sarr   Congas,Talking Drum
Sidiki Dembele   Djembe,Calabash
Alice Zawadzki   Vocals
Ruth Gibson   Viola
Alan Keary   Bass (Electric)
Cherise Adams-Burnett   Vocals
Selaocoe Family   Vocal Ensemble
Thandanani Gumede   Vocals
Rakhyinder Singh   Violin

Technical Credits

Johann Sebastian Bach   Composer
Anne Schneider   Liner Note Translation
Giovanni Benedetto Platti   Composer
Daniel Fesquet   Liner Note Translation
Alain Lanceron   Executive Producer
Michael Portlock   Cover Design
Joseph Reiser   Mixing,Engineer
Fred Thomas   Recording Producer
Abel Selaocoe   Composer,Liner Notes,Improvisation
Christina Ebenezer   Photography