Puerto Rican-American fiddler and songwriter, Skye Soto Steele has released five albums of original music and toured as a solo artist throughout the US and Europe. He made a surprise guest appearance at Choro Camp’s forró party last year and wowed us with his command of forró pé de serra — on rabeca, no less! We welcome him to our staff this year to share, especially with bowed strings players, what he has learned from his extensive study and travel in Brazil.
Skye’s connection to the rabeca (Brazilian fiddle) dates back to 2003 and his collaboration with the band Nation Beat. In seven years with the band he traveled to Recife to study, record and perform with some of the leading figures in N.E. Brazilian music, including Maracatu Naçao Estrela Brilhante, members of Cascabulho, and the rabequeiros Mestre Salustiano and Mestre Luiz Paixao. Many of these encounters are captured on Nation Beat’s 3 LPs from this period, and the band carried the spirit of Northeast Brazilian music on numerous national tours, including spots at the Montreal Jazz Festival and opening for Willie Nelson at Farm Aid. In more recent years Skye’s rabeca playing has been heard in his Trio VenRabeCa with Rogerio Boccato and Michael Loren LaValle, as well as on critically acclaimed albums by Chroma Nova, a jazz group lead by Michael Blake and featuring Guilherme Monteiro, Rogerio Boccato, and Gili Lopes.
Additionally, Skye has worked as music director and multi-instrumentalist for grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton since 2007, has appeared with jazz legends Henry Butler, Anthony Braxton, Steven Bernstein, and artists including Willie Nelson, Jolie Holland, and Deer Tick. Skye received his B.F.A. from the New School Jazz Program, studying with Mat Maneri, Jimmy Owens, and Rob Thomas.
In 2017, Skye founded String People. Aimed at decolonizing string pedagogy through teacher training, student workshops, and collaborative concerts, they have partnered with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, Midori & Friends, The National String Project Consortium, Buffalo String Works, and Brooklyn Conservatory among many others.
