JJJJJerome Ellis
on his improvisational solo piano album Compline in Nine Movements, disability rights & rethinking time
Sound Off’s season two finale features the one and only JJJJJerome Ellis, including a preview of two movements in his forthcoming album!!! Through music, text, performance, video, and photography he researches relationships among blackness, disabled speech, divinity, nature, sound, and time. His remarkable new improvisational solo piano album Compline in Nine Movements will be out in December on NNA Tapes.
Recorded in one take back in 2017, this work is a longform improvisation on a theme Ellis developed with longtime collaborator James Harrison Monaco. The two developed the piece in a live performance the two presented at La Mama in NYC. It’s a theme inspired by a tale from 1,001 Nights. Ellis held on to the recording and it wasn’t until he played it years later for his wife that he decided that he wanted to share it with the world. I’m so glad he did, because as soon as I first heard the opening bars I was transfixed. I can’t wait to hear what you think of our conversation!