I’ve written about the Cello before. Okay. I am fixated.

So….

I BOUGHT A CELLO!

For years, I have been hypnotized by the sound. Classical or Pop Rock, the cello is at home anywhere, in any genre. The voice and shape of a Renaissance woman, with child-bearing hips, curves in all the right places, a voice sultry and smooth, beckoning…. ‘Come hither’.

On my last musical production, I wrote bass guitar, with cello in mind. To me, it was backing vocals, strings, and keys all done on bass guitar, but most of all… cello. So, after thinking it, dreaming it, I am going to do it. I have never had a lesson, but that means nothing to me. I play guitar, piano, bass, sing, write music … but never had a lesson in any of those disciplines either. I do not know I am not ten feet tall. This cello and me have a relationship we have yet to describe.

Ophra Harnoy recreates Haydn’s Cello Concerto No#1 and Yo Yo Ma does Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor. Both are two of the world’s most talented cellists.

Electric Light Orchestra brought us  ‘It’s a Livin’ Thing’, as well as beau coup other great tunes. The band was formed from the ashes of Jeff Lynne and multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood’s’s band, ‘The Move’ (Do Ya Do Ya Want My Love?). When Roy took a powder, Mike Edwards and Hugh McDowell both played cello in ELO.

The Beatles song  ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was the first time radio heard a merger of pop rock and classical music. One of their best known tunes, to this day; people love it, myself included.

Mischka Maisky brings us Bach’s Cello Concerto No#1 in G . Maisky is a Latvian-born Israeli who lives in Brussels, Belgium, and studied under the great Rostopovich.

Mstmislav Rostropovich delivers ‘Dance of the Elves’ with abandon., of course. He is considered the best cellist of the 20th century. Rostopovich has taught and was a conductor, as well as a cello virtuoso.

Two guys from Croatia and Slovenia called ‘Two Cellos’ absolutely kill AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’. Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser take rock songs and adapt them to a Dueling Cello performance. Before they became a duo, the guys competed against each other in various musical competitions. These two are phenomenal! They opened for Elton John on his 32-city tour in 2011.

I look to ‘Cello Wars with Light Sabers’ … which is a parody of Star Wars, as an example of what can be done on the instrument. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’  is played on the cello by a young man who is working his way through music school AND is taking donations for this performance. He plays all parts of all instruments in a cut and splice jam session. This kid is going places. I will donate, I think you should, too.

Cello Fury brings us ‘Against All Odds’. They are a chamber music group based in Pittsburgh PA and consist of Simon Cummings Nicole Myers, and Ben Munoz. The three met while studying at Carnegie-Mellon University and the rest is Cello History.

Last, but not least, Apocalyptica is a cello band from Helsinki, Finland. They began as a Metallica cover band and did tunes like  ‘Nothing Else Matters’. Their fourth album consists of all original music and features songs such as, ‘Drive’ and ‘Cohkka’.

I intend to learn to play this cello and each of these artists are my inspiration. I will keep you posted. This will be so cool!!!