Born on May 8, 1927, in Oxford, Mississippi, Phil Cohran was a jazz trumpeter best known for his stint as a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra from 1959 to 1961. He moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri, where he studied the trumpet. His early career included stints with jazz pianist Jay McShann and the U.S. Navy band. In 1959, jazz saxophonist John Gilmore introduced Phil Cohran to the Sun Ra Arkestra while they were based in Chicago, Illinois. During this time, he created the frankiphone – also known as the space harp – which was an electrified kalimba. Cohran played with Sun Ra for the next two years but decided not to follow the band when they left Chicago. He expanded his musical arsenal and began playing the harp, baritone saxophone, cornet, French horn and percussion. In 1965, Phil Cohran co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). He also formed the Arctic Heritage Ensemble and released On the Beach, their debut album in 1967. They followed that up with The Malcolm X Memorial (A Tribute in Music) in 1968. It took another 41 years before they returned with The Spanish Suite (Martina, Delores, & Marguirite) in 2009 and Armageddon in 2010. Phil Cohran also performed with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, a nine-piece group that features eight of his sons. Phil Cohran died on June 28, 2017. He was 90 years old.
