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Rufus Cappadocia

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Rufus Cappadocia is a Canadian-American cellist best known for his cross-cultural recordings and performances. He has released albums in collaboration with guitarist David Fiuczynski, singer Bethany Yarrow, Stellamara with Sonja Drakulich, multi-instrumentalist Ross Daly and The Paradox Trio with Matt Dariau.

Cappadocia was born[when?] and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He began playing cello at the age of 3. Cappadocia went on to study classically at McGill University in Montreal, where he spent much of his spare time studying sounds and music from lesser-known musical traditions in the university's ethno-musicology department. He left school, and traveled to the south of France and to Spain, where he played as a street musician. In his travels, be continued to pick up new sounds and ethnic styles, which he blended into his own.

Partly to improve his ability to compete with other street musicians, Cappadocia decided to "add a bass register" to his cello. He left Europe, and is now based in New York. His musical style blends "the similarities between seemingly diverse music forms such as blues, Sufi, Middle Eastern and even Gregorian chant. To him they are all compatible, microtonal modes of music."

Cappadocia's past collaborations have included participation in the jazz group The Paradox Trio and the World Music group Trance Mission. He has also produced CDs with guitarist David Fiuczynski and singer/songwriter Bethany Yarrow.

Sheila Anozier, Rufus Cappadocia: Tranpe

Read "Tranpe" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
May 30, 2025

Dopo una laurea in giornalismo e un decennio da professionista al New York Times, Sheila Anozier ha deciso di voltare pagina e dedicarsi totalmente alla danza, diventando anche coreografa e regista per vari progetti. Nata ad Haiti, dov'è restata fino all'età di sette anni, Sheila Anozier è fortemente legata alla sua cultura d'origine e lo riafferma in questa prima incisione come cantante. Con lei c'è il violoncellista Rufus Cappadocia, con cui ha varato da alcuni anni ...

Radio & Podcasts

Rufus Cappadocia, Sheila Anozier, Hermeto Pascoal, Søren Skov & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
September 6, 2024

Mondo Jazz #300! To celebrate this milestone, a playlist featuring the global sounds which Mondo Jazz listeners have come to expect. Here's to 300 more episodes!Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Tranpe “Lan Gran Chimen" Twa Fey, Twa Rasin (Self-produced) 0:16 Host talks 3:39 Søren Skov Orbit “Naration" Adrift (Frederiksberg) 5:37 Host talks 11:18 Melinda Sullivan, Larry Goldings “Sin Zapatos" Big Foot (Colorfield) 13:40 Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo ...

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Album Review

Rufus Cappadocia: Songs for Cello

Read "Songs for Cello" reviewed by Greg Camphire

by Greg Camphire
February 20, 2008

Canadian-bred, New York-based cellist and composer Rufus Cappadocia is a world music traveler, having studied and performed in a variety of traditions--from American blues, folk and jazz to Spanish flamenco, Haitian voodoo drumming and various styles from the Balkans, the Middle East and India. Citing saxophonist John Coltrane and guitarists Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King as formative influences, and playing a self-designed, five-string electric instrument, Cappadocia whips up a hypnotic blend of sounds with Songs For Cello, his debut solo ...

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Album Review

David Fiuczynski & Rufus Cappadocia: Kif

by AAJ Staff
April 2, 2003

The country of Morocco is respected throughout Europe for, among other things, an estimated 30% of the continent's marijuana imports. The superior raw material called Kif is found there in the mountains of Rif. In Arabic, it's spelled ÙƒÙŠÙ. Okay, got that? Enough said.

But don't go into Kif, the record, thinking it's some sort of stoner jam-band excursion. Quite the opposite: guitarist David Fiuczynski and cellist Rufus Cappadocia apply a razor edge to these pieces, asserting a ...