Limited edition 180g vinyl. Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket. Restored artwork + previously unseen family photos. In 1993, when Chicago's Adler Planetarium commissioned Kelan Phil Cohran to score their "African Skies" program, they tapped into a mind that moved effortlessly between galaxies and neighborhoods, between ancestral rhythm and modern invention. Three decades later, Listening Position presents the first official reissue of this cosmic masterpiece - a recording that stands as both a spiritual journey and a quiet offering from one celestial traveler to another.
Cohran, who had once absorbed the cosmos through Sun Ra's Arkestra (1958-61) before co-founding the AACM, brought to this project a lifetime of studying what he called "the true vision of history" - a convergence of musicology, astronomy, and archaeo-astronomy. "Music is the language of life," he once said. "It is how everything communicates."
The album emerged just weeks after Sun Ra's passing, becoming an unintended memorial to his mentor and friend. "Sun Ra taught me the one thing that really made a difference in my life," Cohran reflected, "and that is: Whatever you want to do, do it all the time." That mantra animates every moment of African Skies. The instrumentation is entirely unique: two double basses, two harps, and a world of percussion lay the foundation for melodic explorations of cornet, voice, and the Frankiphone - Cohran's hand-built, ethereal-sounding electrified kalimba named for his mother. The ensemble Legacy featured harpist Josefe-Marie Verna (who also contributed trombone), bass clarinetist/vocalist Aquilla Sadalla, bassists Malik Cohran and Oscar "Bobo" Brown III, with Cohran himself on trumpet, guitar, and harp.
Across seven movements - from the meditative "White Nile" to the mesmerizing, percussive "Kilimanjaro" - the music weaves together themes of transcendence and the magnitude of the universal unknown. The performances feel both ceremonial and weightless, rooted in mortal pulse and breath while reaching toward something infinite. Cohran described his education as "like discovering a gold mine in the garbage can" - and that revelation of hidden cosmic wisdom illuminates every track.
This definitive edition, sourced from the original DAT recording, features meticulous audio restoration by Michael Graves and is mastered and cut by Josh Bonati. The 180g vinyl arrives in a laminated Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket with restored cover art, newly unearthed photos from the Cohran family, and the original program notes from the Adler Planetarium.
Jake Viator, who runs Listening Position, speaks of liberating music from basements and storage closets: "I want to remove the obstacles between people and their sound systems by producing the best-sounding records possible." This reissue achieves exactly that - longtime seekers finally receive the edition they've hoped for, while new listeners meet a visionary in complete command of his cosmic language.
African Skies played at the Adler Planetarium for four successful years, pairing sweeping astronomical footage from observatories across Africa with Cohran's transcendent score. Now, thirty years later, it continues to expand our understanding of what jazz can be when it reaches toward the stars.
Release details:
- Limited edition 180g vinyl
- Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket
- Restored artwork + previously unseen family photos
- Original Adler Planetarium program notes
- Audio restoration by Michael Graves
- Mastered and cut by Josh Bonati
