Kelan was the founder of the Affro-Art Theatre, and the Artistic Heritage Ensemble. The Affro-Arts Theatre was the pride and joy of his artistic vision. This theatre reflected his highly crafted cultural philosophy. It became a focal point for a growing Black consciousness among African Americans in Chicago, and attracted leading African American spokespersons including, Stokely Carmichael, LeRoi Jones, Rev. Albert Cleage, Oscar Brown Jr., Oletunji, Syl Jonson, and many more. The Affro-Arts Theatre eventually fell on hard times. Internal dissention, financial problems, and political harassment brought an end to the theatre by 1970.
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Kelan was a classically trained trumpet player and composer who was well versed in music theory and music history. He also played in bands with leading Jazz musicians of his era. He brought a wealth of knowledge into his music from other disciplines including paleontology, astronomy, astrology, and mathematics.
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Kelan was also one of the founding members of the African American Music Collective (AACM). His thinking along with the other founders was part of the central ideas and structure of the AACM. AACM members were among the more important and innovative musicians in the 1960s and 1970s. The AACM became one of the most well-known professional African American Jazz music collectives in America and its influence reached abroad. Many of American’s best known Jazz musicians of that time were members. These musicians stayed committed to Jazz despite a lack of performance venues and sometimes indifferent audiences. Kelan credited himself with introducing the Kalimba into American music.
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Kelan, which means holy scripture, was the name given to Philip Thomas Cohran in Beijing and Xian China by scholars of religion where he presented a lecture on Ancient Tuning Systems at the Conservatory of Traditional Music. Kelan told me that the Conservatory administrators offered to hire him and place him on the Conservatory staff. He said he declined the offer because he had become a fixture in the city to which he committed his life - Chicago.
