In 2014 Angel Elmore quit a job selling high-end lingerie that she’d held for seven years, cashed out a 401(k) worth nearly $10,000, and moved into a coach house in Greater Grand Crossing. She was 34 years old, and she wanted to take a year to pursue a dream she’d nurtured ever since her first piano lesson at age 12: to become a musician. Throughout her 20s, that dream had seemed out of reach. She’d flunked out of the Moody Bible Institute, and during her junior year at Roosevelt University, when she was 22, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor that eventually required surgery. At 27 she grieved the death of her older sister. But Elmore kept music close, even when she didn’t yet feel ready to make it her life: “It’s always been my best friend,” she says. “It ain’t ever let me down.”

The Oracle by Angel Bat Dawid

Angel Bat Dawid & the Brothahood, Wyche/Packard Duo Thu 2/7, 9 PM, Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey ste. 208, $10 suggested donation, all ages

Eliel Sherman Storey, Isaiah Collier, Adam Zanolini, and Angel Bat Dawid; DJ Jamal “Jaytoo” Jeffries; DJ King Hippo Part of the monthly Mothership 9 multimedia series, curated by Angel Bat Dawid and also featuring visual art by Xris Espinoza, a fashion show, and a lecture by Storey. Sat 2/9, 9 PM, Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey ste. 208, $10 suggested donation, all ages

I’ve been doing music since I was a little girl. I always remember singing. We lived in Africa when I was seven to 12; my parents were missionaries. When we came back to the States, I was like, “Give me lessons! I want to learn piano!” I started piano first—it was really, really hard, but I kept trying at it. Then I got to the clarinet. My earliest musical experience was classical. I love Mozart. Amadeus, that movie changed my life.

  • Angel Bat Dawid performs with Adam Zanolini and Xris Espinoza at Experimental Sound Studio’s Option series in May 2018.

That year, 2014, I was learning about the scene. I was halfway through the AACM book A Power Stronger Than Itself, by George Lewis. I’m reading it, and Adam Zanolini calls me: “Angel, guess who finna be at Constellation? Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell.” I was like, “What? I was just reading about them! I’m there, let’s go.” I had the book, and I wanted them to sign it. I go up to Muhal—he was one of the founders of AACM—I was like, “Your book is so inspirational.” He looked at me, gave me a hug, and said, “If you take care of the music, it will take care of you.”

South Africa was my trip last year. I love Africa so much—I didn’t realize how wonderful it is just to be around so much blackness. It was like a weight was off my shoulders; I didn’t even realize I was carrying weight. It’s not that Africa doesn’t have problems, but it was just this ancient blackness that you don’t get here, because America’s a very young nation. Impepho is this incense that—in the African spirituality tradition there, they burn this incense to connect with their ancestors, and there were some groups there that I met that were very intentional about that. There’s also this wonderful music called gqom music. It was like house, but it was different—it had this bass. I can’t claim that I’m doing any gqom, but I can hear its influence in [my song] “Impepho.” It rubbed off—that’s why I call myself a sonic archaeologist. I like to go to places, just like you leave fossils everywhere—hello, sonic sounds are still left there too! They rub off on you.