Kelan Phil Cohran & Legacy – African Skies

In 1993, when Chicago’s Adler Planetarium asked Kelan Phil Cohran to score a program called African Skies, they tapped a mind that moved comfortably between galaxies and neighborhoods, between ancestral rhythm and modern invention. Cohran had once sat inside Sun Ra’s Arkestra, studying the cosmos through a brass bell. By the time the Adler commissioned him, he had become a guiding presence on the South Side, shaping young musicians, building instruments, and teaching that the universe sings if you listen closely enough. “Music is the language of life,” he once said. “It is how everything communicates.” African Skies emerged from such universality. The program paired sweeping astronomical footage from observatories across Africa with Cohran’s music, a suite that feels devotional and curious at once. He scored it with a rare ensemble: two double basses, two harps, percussion, violin and saxophone lines that arc like constellations, voice, and the Frankiphone, his electrified kalimba, whose percussive plucks create labyrinthine circular melodies.

Reissue of this spiritual jazz holy grail is finally available now via our webshop!