From 1972 to 1978, Gillis recorded traditional music in Afghanistan, Iran, Kashmir, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Surinam, and Ghana. In 1979, she opened
Soundscape, the first multi-cultural performance space in
New York City, on west 52nd Street which she directed for the next five years. Gillis, Soundscape and the music played there is the subject of a web based project by
WKCR Radio 89.9 NY. From 1984, Gillis worked on career development with international musicians including
Youssou N'dour from Senegal (
The Guide (Wommat)), Yomo Toro from Puerto Rico;
Salif Keita form Mali, and
Carlinhos Brown from Brazil. In 1996, she was hired as a consultant by the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to accompany musicians on a trip to Angola, Liberia, Kenya and South African, to witness first hand the results of ethnic cleansing. Gillis worked with the ICRC to produce a CD. Twenty-five of Gillis' recordings have been released by
Smithsonian Folkways and
Lyrichord. As well, there have been nine releases on DIW of Live from Soundscape tapes, made during the years that the performance space which was located at 500 West
52nd Street was open. In 2000, she was nominated for a
Grammy Award in the Producer category for the
Archie Shepp/Roswell Rudd Quartet Live in New York, and again in 2001 for
Roswell Rudd's
MALIcool. She has performed "sit down comedy" – and has a One Older Woman show
Tales from Geriassic Park - On the Verge of Extinction which won Best Comedic Script in 2014 at the United Solo Theatre Festival in NYC> She has published three books,
I Just Want to be Invited - I Promise Not to Come,''I'll Never Know If I Would Have Gotten The Same Results if I'd Been Nice''. and "The I of the Storm." She lived and collaborated with trombonist/composer Roswell Rudd from 1999 - 2017 when he died. They formed a group they call The Olders. Their video AWEMSONE & GRUESOME can be seen on Youtube. ==Discography==