Amina Claudine Myers | |
|---|---|
) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | March 21, 1942 Blackwell, Arkansas, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, Gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, arranger |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano, organ |
| Years active | 1969–present |
Amina Claudine Myers (born March 21, 1942) is an American jazz pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, and arranger.[1]
Biography
Born in Blackwell, Arkansas,[2] "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".[2] 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."[3] She began to learn some European classical music at high school, but this was interrupted when she and the family moved back to Blackwell.[4]
Myers majored in music education at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas.[4] In her second year, she was invited to play at The Safari Room in Memphis, Tennessee.[4] This engagement, however, was very brief, as her musical repertoire was too limited.[4] After graduation, she moved in 1963 to Chicago, where she taught music at an elementary school.[5] She also attended classes at Roosevelt University and worked with musicians such as Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons.[6] She was one of the performers at the AACM's second concert.[5] In the late 1960s, Myers added "Amina" to her name.[7]
In 1976 Myers relocated to New York City,[8] 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 Quintet and his New York Organ Ensemble.[8]
Discography
As leader
- Poems for Piano: The Piano Music of Marion Brown (Sweet Earth, 1979)
- Song for Mother E with Pheeroan akLaff (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
- Lifea Blinec (Arista Novus, 1978)
- Spihumonesty (Black Saint, 1979)
- Duet (Black Saint, 1981)
With the Art Ensemble of Chicago
- Salutes the Chicago Blues Tradition (AECO, 1993)
With Arthur Blythe
- Blythe Spirit (Columbia, 1981)
With Lester Bowie
- African Children (Horo, 1978)
- The Fifth Power (Black Saint, 1978)
- The Organizer (DIW, 1991)
- Funky T. Cool T. (DIW, 1991)
With Frank Lowe
- 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
- Afro Indian Blues (recorded 1991, released 2006)
With Third Rail (James Blood Ulmer & Bill Laswell)
- South Delta Space Age (Antilles, 1995)
With Henry Threadgill
- X-75 Volume 1 (1979)
- Subject to Change (1985)
- Song Out of My Trees (1994)
With James Blood Ulmer
- Blue Blood (2000)
References
- ^ Allmusic biography
- ^ a b Lewis 2008, p. 125.
- ^ Lewis 2008, p. 126.
- ^ a b c d Lewis 2008, p. 127.
- ^ a b Lewis 2008, p. 128.
- ^ Russonello, Giovanni (September 14, 2018). "Amina Claudine Myers, a Singer Who Still Needs No Words". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ Lewis 2008, p. 165.
- ^ a b "Full length Bio: Amina Claudine Myers", Company of Heaven.
Bibliography
- Lewis, George E. (2008). A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music. University of Chicago Press.
External links
- AllMusic page for Myers
- Amina Claudine Myers at AACM
- (in Italian) Amina Claudine Myers at centrojazztorino
- Amina Claudine Myers at German Wikipedia
- Amina Claudine Myers website [1]