Cello-rific

Mello Cello started his intensive classical music studies at the age of 6 at the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow. By the age of 8, he played his first recital at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Having studied the cello for 18 years, including being offered a full scholarship at Julliard at the age of 9, and studying ten years under the direction of Maestro Yuli Turovsky, Mello took a 12-year break from music only to return with a voracious appetite for 'the groove'. 

A lightning-quick music imagination, coupled with technical ability Russian music education commands, made Mello Cello a highly desirable member of any ensemble. To date, he has participated in over 400 jam sessions, morphing with styles of over a thousand musicians. In Chicago, Mello was baptized by the legendary Billy Branch at Buddy Guy's Legends. Mello appeared on Billy's "Blues Shock" album as a Blues Cellist, a historic first.

Today, Mello Cello is exploring primarily in 'groove', or 'Why do you involuntarily tap your foot to some music'? There is mystical power in groove, and it is Mello's mission to unravel its secrets, if only a little bit, all the while making some hypnotic and emotionally-engaging music.