Ben Sollee, Jazz Cellist

When I first listened to Ben Sollee’s solo CD, “Learning to Bend,” I was skeptical that any cellist could top what Yo Yo Ma had done with his classical and world music blends. But what I heard was a roots performer who took his instrument of choice, which just happened to be a cello, and used it in ways that no one could have imagined. I heard a roots and jazz base to the music and became an instant fan.

Sollee is one of a handful of cello innovators out there. Matthew Probst uses an electric cello when he sits in with Enchanted Ape, adding jazz influences. Rushad Eggleston, formerly of Crooked Still, and later Tristan Clarridge, who replaced him, still preserved the essence of what a cello sounds like in their newgrass group, using a lot of bow work.
But Sollee is different. “I am a classically trained cat,” he admits. “At the same time, I’m coming from a songwriting, really diverse instrumental background. It’s not necessarily about playing the hot licks.”

Though Sollee’s first instrument was guitar due to its availability at home, he found the cello in elementary school when the music teacher was looking to fill out the student orchestra.

But unlike may young orchestra students, Sollee didn’t take cello lessons in Lexington, Kentucky, his hometown.
His father, an R&B stylist on the guitar sat down with him and helped young Sollee bring music out of his awkward instrument. “My dad would show me stuff that he could figure out on the cello, like bass lines for ‘Stand by Me’ and ‘My Girl,’” Sollee says. “Then my grandfather was a fiddle player so I would try to figure out fiddle tunes with him and how to play along with those. So, I had those two things going on.”

Sollee went on to earn a cello degree at the University of Louisville with professor Paul York, a noted cello teacher. Though he played in his college orchestras and ensembles, he sought out bands so that he could find ways to accompany other types of music.

“I was with Otis Taylor, the blues cat who does avant garde stuff. I actually played five-string electric cello with him on the road for a few years. We did the blues festival circuit, some of the jazz fests, and different art festivals...I had a lot of exposure and a lot of challenges including figuring how to play on big stages.”

Then, he started playing on the Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour in Lexington Kentucky. This was where he came into contact with songwriters and musicians from a wide variety of genres. “I was getting all that influence, a different influence each week, and sometimes jamming with those folks with the cello,” he recalls. He tried to figure out how to use the cello in different ways.

In 2005, he joined the Sparrow Quartet, which Abigail Washburn was forming with banjo innovator Bela Fleck and fiddler virtuoso Casey Drissen.

Sollee recorded one studio album, “Turn on the Moon,” a few years back. But, his newest, “Learning to Bend,” is a fine piece of work, showcasing his roots vocals and his extraordinary playing. He is supported by Washburn vocally and some members of the Sparrow Quartet instrumentally.

“For the first time, I felt that I had a good grasp of my musical ideas from coming out of college and also all different playing I’d done with the Sparrow Quartet.”

If You Go

What: Ben Sollee, jazz cellist; Abigail Washburn, vocalist; Sparrow Quartet
Where: Main Stage,Winnipeg Folk Festival, Birds Hill Park, Manitoba
When: Friday, July 11
Info: 1-888-655-5354