Coco Elysses is a modern-day renaissance woman who hails from Robbins, Illinois. She is a producer, musician, actress, voice-over artist, screenwriter, and poet. She is also the Chairwoman of the venerable AACM (The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). Coco’s voice can be heard at the Adler Planetarium in the installation, Skywatchers of Africa. In 2018, she won the ALTA Award for Best Original Music in a Play, and the 2019 non-equity Jeff Award for Best Original Music in a Play for Tilikum, the first for an African-American woman. Her many accolades include performing at the Frankfurt Germany Jazz Festival with Generation Now of the AACM, and at the Made in Chicago Jazz Festival in Poznan, Poland with Voice Heard– a collective of women musicians of the AACM. It was a pleasure to speak with Coco to discuss her impressive career and the work of The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM)
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. For readers unfamiliar with your background, please tell us more about your formative years growing up in Robbins, Illinois, and what drew you to a career in the arts.
Robbins in a small community less than ten minutes south of Chicago. Although it’s close, it is very rural. A friend who was visiting for the first time asked, “Who dropped Mississippi in the middle of Chicago?”. A few of the nicknames for Robbins include “Mudville” and “Little Mississippi”. It’s like Black Mayberry. It is the home of Dwyane Wade, Kiki Palmer, and Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nicols) from Star Trek. My cousin, who was born and raised there (86 years young) says Mr. T is from Robbins too. He claims that they played together as children. We also had several Tuskegee Airmen who served for Haile Selassie in the Ethiopian war against Italy.
Robbins is always at the root of my creativity. I was a kid that loved talking to elders and hearing their funny stories. I guess that is what led me to being a storyteller…listening to rich stories, making sure the wisdom and humour are intact. Like the story of Ms. Gray,(my God mother’s Mom) who was a cigarette girl at the Cotton Club in New York. Those stories, whew…
My mother always wanted her children to see as much of the world as possible. She found a way to enroll me in as many art classes as possible. I studied ballet, acting, music, and modelling. I attended charm school…the old school walking with a book on your head charm school. My dreams as a child were to be an actress and DJ. During my undergraduate years at Saint Augustine’s University I worked at our commercial radio station producing news and weather reports.
I closed out the station DJing, until we went off the air, which happened around 7:00 pm.
I also attended band camp every summer as a child. We would attend rehearsals of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I would sneak in the box seats to listen, then drift into a lovely nap.
My alma mater didn’t have an orchestra, so I was asked to study tympani for a semester in lieu of a potential scholarship and a position as the timpanist in the band. After a semester of intense study, I was awarded a scholarship which I used to finish paying for school. Playing timpani led me to other percussive instruments. It was a band member at St. Augustine’s that introduced me to congas, via DC gogo music.
You’ve referenced several artists such as musicians Juan Fuentes and Carlos Pride, actor Ron O j Parson, and the late playwright Paul Carter Harrison as early influences. Tell us more about your mentors and influencers and how they supported your career development.
Juan Fuentes was my first conga teacher. He was the bata player for a Yoruba-based dance company I was dancing with. He made it very clear that he would never teach me bata, which I never asked (I thought that was funny). I already knew the historical context that women are traditionally not permitted to play. This was a conversation held 25 years ago. There are lots of women now, playing bata in the religion (Yoruba) and in secular settings. He had an intense hit and a beautiful tone. My second conga teacher was Clifton Robinson, former Artistic Director of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago. Clifton’s another master in technique and sound, from Jamaica.
It’s interesting to talk about your influences because they offer so many things…like these pieces to this really really complex puzzle. I would like to say that Paul Carter Harrison is an architect of space. I worked with him directing me in a play written by Songodina Ifatunjii (Food for the Gods). Paul allowed the actors to be selected via the oracle (IFA). I spent time at Songodina’s Yoruba Temple in Chicago preparing for the role. Paul Carter Harrison was also a jazz lover, he studied the stories behind music. He would share random facts about artists only a storyteller could find. Carlos offered musical concepts or ways to approach sound from a multi-instrumentalist point of view, or a better way of explaining it would be how to transition concepts and approaches from a percussionist perspective. I have been performing for a long time with Tatsu Aoki and The Miyumi Project. Working with Tatsu playing traditional Japanese music combined with improvisational music has been a creative joy and freedom. Tatsu has always been extremely open to percussion, having a place of sonic exploration. Performing with Renee Baker’s Chicago Modern Orchestra Project has been expansively explosive. Renee was the first to encourage me to write and conduct. I was terrified at the thought…when I experienced this amazing bliss while conducting, I knew that I would do it again. I guess you can say I thrive creatively in diverse and challenging environments.
I’ve been playing my Diddley Bow alongside Tatsu Aoki’s shamisen, which has been sonically lovely..combining these two instruments. Then there is Black Earth Sway (Nicole Mitchell, JoVia Armstrong, Alexis Lombre), afro-FOLK-futurism, a unique environment where we get to combine elements in an experimental way that’s liberating.
There are several members of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) family that have had a profound effect on me creatively Mwata Bowden, Dougla R. Ewart, Ed Wilderson Jr., Ed House, Nicole Mitchell, George Lewis, Maia, Shanta Nurullah, Dee Alexander, Khari B, Ben Lamer Gay, Alexis Lombre, just to name a few.
You were a published poet before completing your MFA in creative writing. Since then, you have accumulated several accolades, including the ALTA Award for Best Original Music in a Play, and the 2019 non-equity Jeff Award for Best Original Music in a Play for Tilikum. Some artists look back at their resumes and identify a particular event as a turning point or milestone in their careers. Observing the variety of projects you’ve worked on, is there a particular project you feel has significantly impacted your career?
I guess you can say that Tilikum was definitely a life-changing experience. It was the first time that I worked as an MD with only percussion as the instrumentation.
The playwright, Kristiana Rae Colon wanted the whales (three female whales) to speak, through hand drums. 95% of the play was percussion. This was my first time introducing the Diddley Bow to the theatre community. Although it was not planned, I think the Diddley Bow’s magical inclusion in a lot of creative works always comes as a, well there’s a possibility we can do this. It’s almost like that last ingredient that takes a dish to a whole other level. On working with Kristiana.. she is amazing and her bravery, she is one of my SheRoe’s.
You’ve performed at various musical festivals. For example, with the Great Black Music Ensemble of the AACM in Pisa, Italy for The Insolent Noise Festival. Your Elixir Ensemble has been featured at the Havana Jazz Festival, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, and the Jazz Institute of Chicago, Women’s History Month concert series. It may be a difficult question to answer, but is there a performance/tour that’s most memorable, and if so, why?
…every performance for me, every tour has some incredibly memorable experiences…this is going to be very very hard…if I were to say my most memorable oh I would say a performance with Black Earth Sway in Sao Paulo, BR 2022..I had a moment on stage where I was able to let go and do some things creatively that I had never experienced… there are other reasons why other tours may be more memorable but if I were to pin down and say one it would be that one…
Which three traits define you?
Zealous, Heyoka, Pleasure Activist…
You are the chair of The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) Can you tell us more about the organization and its origins.
We were founded in 1965, by four visionaries Muhal Richard Abrams, Kelan Phil Cohran, Jodie Christian, and Steve McCall. The AACM is a non-profit organization and a collective of composers and musicians dedicated to nurturing, performing, and recording high artistic level programs designed to magnify creative music.
The AACM’s mission is to uplift humanity and enhance cultural understanding through the celebration of Great Black Music, to cultivate young musicians in the practice of creative music, and to push the boundaries of contemporary music through composition and improvisation while providing an environment that encourages the development of its member-artist. The AACM’s School of Music provides free training programs for disadvantaged youth. AACM composers, through their experience as members, often grow to be heralded for groundbreaking innovations in contemporary music. We are proudly reopening the AACM School of Music in Fall 2023.
We celebrated our 55th Anniversary in mask and we are thrilled to be back in the community, establishing new connections and strengthening those that we have. We have new collaborations with The American Composer’s Forum, PAPA (Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra) Old Town School of Folk Music, and continuing to strengthen our former collaborations with Theaster Gates’ ReBuilt Foundation. Since the pandemic, we have lost several members and three this year, (Harrison Bankhead, Kidd Jordan, and Rasul Saddiki).. In Fall 2022, during our retreat, we began interviews for our docuseries Ancient to the Future: The Story of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (working title). You can’t tell the story of an organization that’s nearly 60 years old in two hours. We are seeking funding, and filming simultaneously. If you would like to make a donation to this project please contact us by email.
What initiatives is the AACM currently working on?
In addition to the AACM docuseries, we have a new home, at the historical First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, First Presbyterian has been a staple in the Woodlawn neighborhood for decades…(Dr. King played pool in the church’s gymnasium). On Saturday, October 7, 2023, we will be celebrating the lives of Harrison Bankhead, Rasul Sadikki and Kidd Jordan with compositions by AACM members and conductors.
One of the compositions that I will be conducting is entitled, “Wynter is Here”, celebrating the birth of my first granddaughter. On November 12 we are presenting AFRODUSTER SUITE – featuring the Great Black Music Ensemble of the AACM. Afroduster is a play on the word “Exoduster”. This term was used for the large exodus and immigration of African Americans to the western frontier from the South after the Civil War and Reconstruction in the late 1870s. All compositions are written by AACM members. Afroduster premiers November 11, 2023. Please follow us on Ig at @aacm_chicago for details.
The AACM is an exemplary model of nurturing a community. It supports individual artists, fosters collaboration and experimentation, and engages with broader social issues. As a multidisciplinary artist with experience working across many creative industries, do you feel a majority of art institutes can do more to support creatives and contribute to bettering society?
Of course they can. As we continue to decolonize the music community, the institutions definitely have their part in the massive transformation that needs to happen.
What personal projects are you working on?
I am working on my first release as a composer, “Book of Elysses”. I am blessed to have performed and recorded over the past twenty years. This release will include a double CD release with an electronic and acoustic set. My experimental short, …looking for Elysses, was featured in the Silverroom Block Party Film Festival. I will be doing voice-over work for the exhibit, Faith Ringgold: American People at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, IL. I am a host curator for Art of Soul with Le Book
Where can our readers find out more about you?
The link that connects everything is instabio.cc/3090417hlF0Ov. This link connects to all my social media accounts and my website. Here is the link to connect to everything AACM. https://instabio.cc/3101201rEIlqj
About Author
Fascinating story. Can’t wait to read your book.