I can understand your confusion if you have always, as many do, considered Jazz as something strictly tied to smoky bars and saxophone players! let me explain just for a moment:
for almost two centuries Cello has become every day more dominant not only as classical instrument but has inspired also many sound experiments.
My interest when approaching Jazz cello is not only to produce "cover" of famous standards but to rediscover a form of art that seems to have been forgotten and almost feared in the classical music circles: IMPROVISATION
What is improvisation?
Even if nowadays it is mainly associated with Jazz, improvisation is an Art form that was pretty common since the early times: J.S. Bach himself, during his lifetime, was better known for his improvisations at the keyboard that for his compositions!
Improvisation is what makes the musician being able to perceive an order where others cannot and then act on it through a process that meets half way between creation and tradition.