Acclaimed artist JJJJJerome Ellis took the stage at UCLA’s Nimoy Theater for a performance presented by CAP UCLA on Feb. 22. The Grenadian-Jamaican-American musician, writer, and storyteller’s work exists at the intersection of music, language, and identity, exploring themes of stuttering, Blackness, justice, and disabled speech.
Based in Norfolk, Virginia, he has been recognized with a Fulbright Fellowship, a United States Artists Fellowship, and other prestigious accolades for his groundbreaking approach to sound and narrative. Dressed in a handmade black-and-white striped dress from Kenya, barefoot except for brightly colored toe socks, Ellis welcomed the audience with a warmth that set the tone for the evening. His introduction was both deliberate and inclusive, acknowledging those who made the event possible and extending gratitude to Robbie, the ASL interpreter, for ensuring accessibility.
His stage presence was as striking as his performance itself. A grand piano, bathed in blue and purple light, stood alongside a hammered dulcimer, microphones, a laptop, and a saxophone. Behind him, a projection screen displayed a typed phrase that captured the essence of the evening’s themes:
“The rose of the stutter shall GRO through the fence of prose.”
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The words, much like the evening’s performance, signified a poetic defiance, a reclamation of rhythm in speech, sound, and identity.
Before the first note played, Ellis paced the stage, seemingly in conversation with the space itself. He constructed the night’s soundscape in layers—first, a series of projected, typed descriptions of sounds, then an audio track filled with varying tones and textures. This was not just a concert; it was a guided auditory experience where pre-recorded voice performances, stereo sound manipulation, and live instrumentation converged into a unique composition.
At precisely 8:25 PM, Ellis picked up his saxophone, introducing its first note not with sharp punctuation but with a gentle, soothing resonance.
His playing, much like his speech, had the fluidity of a storyteller—one who crafts narratives with breath, pauses, and intention. The performance unfolded like a sound bath, enveloping the audience in waves of sonic expression.
Central to the evening’s theme was Ellis’ relationship with his own stutter. He shared reflections on inheriting it from his mother and used significant portions of the performance to speak openly about it. Pauses and repetitions shaped his words, turning speech into an essential element of his artistry.
Much of the performance took on the structure of a lecture, weaving personal narrative with poetic musings. He shared a poignant poem about an enslaved woman—an interlude that bridged historical trauma with present-day identity. Every moment reinforced his belief that stuttering, rather than a limitation, was an aesthetic choice and creative force.
By the evening’s end, Ellis had delivered a performance that blended sound, speech, and storytelling into a singular, immersive experience. His art was not about overcoming the stutter but embracing, amplifying, and making music out of it.
