Start, by listening.
Maybe that’s always a good idea, but it especially feels like the right thing to encourage you to do in this case. Before you even know the music or the musician, Abel Selaocoe’s music-making just draws you in.
It’s the sound of this music that first caught the attention of WXXI Classical midday host Steve Johnson somewhere in the tides of social media, and then the attention of everyone he shared it with here at WXXI. I was thrilled to find that Selaocoe had an album to add to our library and share with you on the radio.
In this debut album “Where is Home (Hae Ke Kae),” music by Johann Sebastian Bach lives alongside traditional pieces from South Africa, with Selaocoe improvising as part of both his playing and singing.
The title of the album poses a question. Along with his musical response, Selaocoe says that:
“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.”
You’ll hear more of Selaocoe’s musical responses to these ideas over the next few weeks on WXXI Classical, as this thrilling new album is our CD Spotlight.
