Tangible Sound: Arrival to a Higher Ground (Tatsu Aoki & Kioto Aoki)

Event Date: August 15, 2026 (3PM)

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Imagine walking inside the thunderous sound of a taiko drum or feeling enveloped by the sinuous sounds of a saxophone, cello, or bass. What if your body became part of a visual landscape of colors, textures, and movements that resonated with the bone-tingling sound vibrating in your ears?

Tangible Sound: Arrival to a Higher Ground creates a sensory and celebratory experience of jazz art forms that connect, uplift, and transform our human spirit by translating the power of music into color and movement.

Together, photographer Lauren Deutsch, filmmaker Jonathan Woods, and the Tangible Sound Collaborative created an immersive exhibition celebrating Chicago’s creative improvised music community. The exhibition is inspired by the early experimenters whose boundary-breaking practices have influenced generations of visual and sonic artists.

This exhibition is dedicated to Ancestors Timuel D. Black, whose immense impact on the spirit, art and activism in Chicago continues to propel us forward, and the legendary musician, mentor and community-builder Fred Anderson.

AUGUST 15 FEATURE (Tatsu Aoki & Kioto Aoki)

Saturday, August 15, 2026

3-4 p.m.
South Gallery, Tangible Sound
Michigan Avenue Galleries, 1st Floor East

Tatsu Aoki, bass, shamisen, taiko drum, electronics
Tatsu Aoki is a leading advocate for the Asian American community, as well as a prolific composer and performer of traditional and experimental music forms, a filmmaker, and an educator. He was born in 1958 into the Toyoakimoto artisan family and was performing by age four. In 1977, Aoki left Tokyo and is now one of the most in-demand performers of bass, shamisen, and taiko in Chicago, and tours internationally.

Kioto Aoki, taiko drums
Kioto Aoki, descends from the Toyoakimoto performing arts family in Tokyo with roots dating back to the Edo period. Studying under her Tokyo-born father, Kioto is carrying on the artistic family lineage in Chicago as sole professional taiko artist in the city. Kioto plays in both traditional and contemporary musical contexts and is active within the experimental and creative music communities in Chicago and the Bay Area.

Coco Elysses, diddley bow, congas, electronics
Coco Elysses is a producer, musician, actress, voice-over artist, screenwriter and poet. She was the second woman Chair of the AACM. She performs on congas and diddley bow, an invented African-based one-string rhythm instrument that she creates. She has recorded and performed with Nicole Mitchell, JoVia Armstrong and Tatsu Aoki’s Miyumi Project among many other artists in Chicago and worldwide.

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