Cellist and vocalist Leyla McCalla played in the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a group that drew overdue attention to the vital African-American element in old-time string band music. McCalla’s parents are both Haitian, and the music of the African diaspora and the Caribbean features prominently in her work.
On her 2016 record “A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey,” McCalla is joined by fellow Chocolate Drop Rhiannon Giddens, who harmonizes on one lovely tune. Guitar superhero Marc Ribot plays on another. (The title of the new record, incidentally, comes from a book about the music of Haiti by former Wesleyan University ethno musicology professor Gage Averill.)
McCalla’s music brings to mind comparisons to Sam Amidon, another folk-steeped musician who also wedges in elements of contemporary classical music and a hypnotic minimalist aesthetic into his work. Or one might compare her to cellist Erik Friedlander, who also has brought the instrument into new settings.
McCalla, 30, has lived in Ghana, New Orleans and New York City, all of which can be imagined to be heard in her music. She turns the cello into an instrument that sounds right at home soloing on a Cajun tune or a bit of humid dixieland. There are moments where the blues flow into a kind of lilting French creole cafe folk or where a slinky tango vibe suggests itself. McCalla’s work gestures at the fruitful swirl and ache of music made by large historical displacements of people.
Leyla McCalla plays Cafe Nine, 250 State St., New Haven, Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m. $12 to $14. 203-789-8281 and cafenine.com
