Amina Claudine Myers (born March 21, 1942) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, and arranger.

Biography

Born in Blackwell, Arkansas, "Myers was brought up largely by her great-aunt, a schoolteacher, and her great-uncle, a carpenter by trade who played the clarinet, piano, and flute". She "started taking piano lessons around the age of four, and when she was seven, her family moved to Roosevelt, a black community outside Dallas. Myers took piano and violin lessons, but eventually, partly for financial reasons, settled on the piano, taking weekly lessons of fifteen minutes each." She began to learn some European classical music at high school, but this was interrupted when she and the family moved back to Blackwell. Myers majored in music education at

Philander Smith College Philander Smith College is a private historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited by ...

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. In her second year, she was invited to play at The Safari Room in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. This engagement, however, was very brief, as her musical repertoire was too limited. After graduation, she moved in 1963 to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where she taught music at an elementary school. She also attended classes at

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

and worked with musicians such as Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. She was one of the performers at the AACM's second concert. In the late 1960s, Myers added "Amina" to her name. In 1976 Myers relocated to New York City,"Full length Bio: Amina Claudine Myers"
Company of Heaven. where she intensified her compositional work and expanded it into the realm of Off-Broadway productions. She also continued performing and recording as a pianist and organist. Around 1978 she began touring in Europe with the

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in ...

Quintet and his New York Organ Ensemble.

Discography

As leader

*'' Poems for Piano: The Piano Music of Marion Brown'' (Sweet Earth, 1979) *''

Song for Mother E ''Song for Mother E'' is the second album by American pianist Amina Claudine Myers featuring performances recorded in 1979 for the Leo label. Reception The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 4 stars stating "Sounds like a big ...

'' with

Pheeroan akLaff Pheeroan akLaff (born Paul Maddox January 27, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He began playing in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan and Ann Arbor, with R & B keyboardist Travis Biggs, funk keyboardist Nimrod “The Grinder” ...

(Leo, 1980) *'' Salutes Bessie Smith'' (Leo, 1980) *'' The Circle of Time'' (Black Saint, 1983) *'' Jumping in the Sugar Bowl'' (Minor Music, 1984) *''Country Girl'' (Minor Music, 1986) *''Amina'' (RCA Novus, 1987) *'' In Touch '' (RCA Novus, 1989) *''Women In (E)Motion Festival'' (Tradition & Moderne, recorded 1988 released 2004) *''Augmented Variations'' (Amina C records, 2004) *''Sama Rou'' (Amina C records, 2016)

Albums featured

With

Muhal Richard Abrams Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...

* '' Lifea Blinec'' (Arista Novus, 1978) * '' Spihumonesty'' (Black Saint, 1979) * '' Duet'' (Black Saint, 1981) With the

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little ...

*''

Salutes the Chicago Blues Tradition ''Salutes the Chicago Blues Tradition'' is a live album recorded on 7 July 1993 in Geneva, Switzerland by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and released on their own AECO Records, AECO label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Ros ...

'' (AECO, 1993) With Arthur Blythe *''

Blythe Spirit ''Blythe Spirit'' is jazz saxophonist Arthur Blythe's fourth album for the Columbia label, recorded in New York City in 1981. Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states: "This is one of the most well-rounded Arthur Blythe records from hi ...

'' (Columbia, 1981) With

*''

African Children ''African Children'' is a double LP by Lester Bowie recorded for the Italian Horo label and released in 1978. It features performances by Bowie, Arthur Blythe, Amina Claudine Myers, Malachi Favors and Phillip Wilson. Track listing Side One # ...

'' (Horo, 1978) * '' The Fifth Power'' (Black Saint, 1978) *''

The Organizer ''The Organizer'' ( it, I compagni"''I compagni''" literally translates into "''The Comrades''.") is a 1963 Italian-French-Yugoslavian-produced drama film written by Mario Monicelli and Age & Scarpelli, and directed by Mario Monicelli. Set in Tu ...

'' (DIW, 1991) * ''

Funky T. Cool T. ''Funky T. Cool T.'' is the fifth album Lester Bowie recorded for the Japanese DIW label and the second album by his "New York Organ Ensemble". It was released in 1991 and features performances by Bowie, Steve Turre, Amina Claudine Myers James ...

'' (DIW, 1991) With

Frank Lowe Frank Lowe (June 24, 1943 – September 19, 2003) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Fra ...

*'' Exotic Heartbreak'' (Soul Note, 1981) With Maurice McIntyre *'' Humility in the Light of the Creator'' (Delmark, 1969) With Greg Osby *'' Season of Renewal'' (JMT, 1990) With

Jim Pepper Jim Gilbert Pepper II (June 18, 1941 – February 10, 1992) was a jazz saxophonist, composer and singer of Kaw and Muscogee Creek Native American heritage. He moved to New York City in 1964, where he came to prominence in the late 1960s as a mem ...

*''Afro Indian Blues'' (recorded 1991, released 2006) With Third Rail (

James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragg ...

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

) *'' South Delta Space Age'' (Antilles, 1995) With

Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...

*'' X-75 Volume 1'' (1979) *'' Subject to Change'' (1985) *'' Song Out of My Trees'' (1994) With

*'' Blue Blood'' (2000)

References

Bibliography

External links

* AllMusic page for Myersbr>Amina Claudine Myers at AACM

* Amina Claudine Myers at German Wikipedia *Amina Claudine Myers websit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Amina Claudine 1942 births Living people African-American pianists American women jazz singers American jazz singers American jazz pianists Avant-garde jazz pianists Women jazz pianists People from Conway County, Arkansas Novus Records artists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists Jazz musicians from Texas Jazz musicians from Arkansas 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists Leo Records artists African-American women musicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians