SUBLIME-A-TRON / Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s mellow cello

Another video so good it scores an 11

Sheku Kanneh-Mason: “No Woman, No Cry” (Bob Marley) • 2:34

Even though there’s not a whiff of ganja in this de-reggae’d version of the Bob Marley classic, it still left the Sublime-a-Tron completely blissed out. Sheku Kanneh-Mason, the British cellist who caught the world’s eye (and ear) at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, turns a crowd-pleaser into something tender and intimate. The song’s title is Jamaican dialect for “no, woman, don’t cry.” Sheku pours on the empathy, matching his tempos to the ebb and flow of the woman’s aching heart. And he applies the cello’s full range of medicinal properties: not just the warm, melted-taffy sound that everyone loves but also flashes of harmonics (silvery tones that strings emit when touched in a few magic spots) and flickers of inner voices, fortified by a convincing bass line. When he unleashes waves of four-part harmony without losing his gentle touch, you know it’s time to dry your tears and trust Dr. Sheku.

More Sublime-a-Tron . . .

Sublime-a-Tron says . . .

11.80

Reinvention11.8
Wizardry11.9
Making the cello an extension of himself11.8
Bedside manner11.7

MORE SHEKU KANNEH-MASON Performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, May 19, 2018

Leave a comment