Biography
Amina Claudine Myers (born March 21, 1942) is an American jazz pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, arranger, and educator whose work bridges free jazz, gospel, blues, and European concert music.[4][5] Born in Blackwell, Arkansas, she was raised by her great-aunt Emma Thomas and uncle Buford, and began formal piano lessons around age seven after discovering a deep attraction to music as a small child.[2][8] Her family moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1949, where she played for local churches, helped form a preteen gospel group, and began directing choirs—experiences that grounded her lifelong connection to sacred music and vocal arranging.[1][2] Returning to Arkansas in her teens, she co‑founded gospel and R&B groups such as The Gospel Four and The Royal Hearts, then went on to study music education and European concert music at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, where she played in the jazz band, directed the choir, and learned pipe organ.[1][2][5]
After graduating with a B.A. in Music Education, Myers moved to Chicago in 1963, taught in the public schools for six years, and immersed herself in the city’s avant‑garde jazz scene.[1][2][4] She joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in 1966, studying and performing with key figures such as Muhal Richard Abrams and Ajaramu, and began composing for big band and small ensembles.[2][3] During this period she worked with musicians including Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons and was among the early performers in AACM concerts.[4] In the late 1960s she adopted the name “Amina” and steadily built a reputation as a powerful pianist, organist, and vocal improviser.[4][5] Relocating to New York City in 1976, she expanded into theater and off‑Broadway composition while continuing to record and tour; from 1978 she performed internationally with Lester Bowie’s Quintet and his New York Organ Ensemble, and later collaborated widely, including appearances with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra and saxophonist Archie Shepp.[1][2][3]
Myers’s musical style is distinguished by its synthesis of free jazz improvisation with gospel harmonies, blues feeling, and classical forms, often featuring her commanding Hammond B3 organ work, choral writing, and extended pieces for pipe organ, chorus, and chamber ensembles.[1][2][3] Large‑scale works such as “Interiors,” “Improvisational Suite for Chorus, Pipe Organ and Percussion,” and later commissions like “Sweet Mary Lou” (honoring Mary Lou Williams) and “I Will Not Fear the Unknown” for baritone Thomas Buckner exemplify her interest in blending sacred, concert, and improvising traditions.[1][2] She has also contributed to dance and interdisciplinary projects, including re‑creating and conducting the orchestral score for Helen Tamiris’s protest work “How Long Brethren” and developing multimedia pieces that integrate visual art, food, and performance.[1] Celebrated as both a performer and teacher, she has received grants from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and Meet the Composer, has been honored by the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame, and continues to be recognized as a pioneering figure linking the innovations of the AACM to subsequent generations of jazz and creative music.[1][2]
Fun Facts
- In the late 1960s she formally added the name "Amina" to her given name Claudine Myers, marking a new phase in her artistic and personal identity.[4]
- Her early college club engagement at the Safari Room ended quickly because her jazz repertoire was too limited at the time—a setback she has cited as motivation to deepen her studies.[4]
- Beyond jazz venues, she has composed and conducted large works for pipe organ and chorus, bringing improvisation into settings such as the Society for Ethical Culture in New York.[1][2]
- For the reconstruction of Helen Tamiris’s 1930s protest piece "How Long Brethren," Myers re‑created missing orchestral parts from archival fragments and then conducted full symphony orchestras and choirs in performance.[1]
Associated Acts
- Amina Claudine Myers Trio
- Lester Bowie’s New York Organ Ensemble - organ
- Lester Bowie’s New York Organ Ensemble - lead vocals
- Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
- Third Rail
- Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra - piano
- Frank Lowe Quintet - piano
Musical Connections
Mentors/Influences
- Muhal Richard Abrams - Senior AACM pianist/composer under whose tutelage she developed her compositional and improvisational approach in Chicago in the 1960s. (Early AACM concerts and workshops; influence evident across her chamber and large‑ensemble works such as "Interiors" and "Improvisational Suite for Chorus, Pipe Organ and Percussion."[2][3]) [mid‑1960s–1970s]
Key Collaborators
- Lester Bowie - Trumpeter and fellow AACM member with whom she toured internationally, performing in his ensembles and helping define a distinctive organ‑based avant‑garde sound. (Lester Bowie Quintet; New York Organ Ensemble; extensive touring in Europe, Japan, Canada, and the U.S. beginning around 1978.[1][2][3][4]) [late 1970s–1980s]
- Ajaramu (Jerold Donovan) - Chicago percussionist with whom she worked regularly early in her Chicago years, solidifying her role as an organist in small‑group jazz settings. (Gerald Donovan (Ajaramu) Trio in Chicago clubs; ongoing AACM performance context.[1][2]) [1960s–early 1970s]
- Archie Shepp - Saxophonist/composer with whom she performed at major international festivals, linking free jazz and politically engaged music. (Historic performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape Town, South Africa.[1][2][3]) [1980s (festival collaborations)]
- Charlie Haden - Bassist and bandleader whose Liberation Music Orchestra featured her as pianist/organist, situating her within politically conscious large‑ensemble jazz. (Performances and recordings with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra (specific albums not detailed in sources but documented as collaborations).[1]) [primarily 1980s–1990s]
- Cecilia Smith - Composer/vibraphonist collaborating with Myers on cross‑cultural performances in West Africa. (Joint concerts in Accra, Ghana, and other West African performances combining vibraphone and Myers’s piano/organ and voice.[1][2]) [late 20th century (exact years not specified)]
- Sola Liu - Collaborator in projects combining Chinese and African‑American musical traditions. (Concerts integrating Chinese and African‑American music, cited among Myers’s many collaborative performances.[1]) [late 20th–early 21st century (exact years not specified)]
Artists Influenced
- Younger AACM and creative music pianists and organists (e.g., later Chicago and New York avant‑garde keyboardists) - Her role as an early AACM member, pioneering use of organ and gospel‑inflected choral writing in free jazz, and long career as an educator and private instructor have made her a model for subsequent generations of experimental pianists, organists, and composer‑vocalists. Specific individual protégés are not named in the available sources, but her documented teaching in theory, composition, voice, piano, and organ, along with institutional recognition such as the 2021 Living Legacy Award, indicate a broad influence on students and peers.[1][2][5] (Influence reflected in later approaches to organ and voice within creative music; no specific derivative works are named in the sources.) [1970s–present]
Connection Network
Discography
Albums
| Title | Release Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Salutes Bessie Smith | 1996 | Album |
| Solace of the Mind | 2025-06-20 | Album |
| Central Park‘s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens | 2024-05-10 | Album |
| Song For Mother E | 2023-02-11 | Album |
| Sama Rou | 2016-05-11 | Album |
| Natural Affinities | 2002-01-01 | Album |
| Duet | 1981-12-28 | Album |
| Song Out Of My Trees | 1994-12-28 | Album |
| 4 (ensemble) Compositions - 1992 | 1993-12-28 | Album |
| Jumping in the Sugar Bowl | 1984-11-15 | Album |
| The Circle Of Time | 1983-12-28 | Album |
| Exotic Heartbreak | 1982-12-31 | Album |
| Duet | 1981-12-28 | Album |
| From The Root To The Source | 1980-12-31 | Album |
| The 5th Power | 1978-12-28 | Album |
Top Tracks
- Dirty No-Gooder's Blues (Salutes Bessie Smith)
- African Blues (African Blues)
- Steal Away (Solace of the Mind)
- Ode to my Ancestors (Solace of the Mind)
- Twilight (Solace of the Mind)
- Voices (Solace of the Mind)
- Hymn for John Lee Hooker (Solace of the Mind)
- Conservatory Gardens (Central Park‘s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens)
- Central Park at Sunset (Central Park‘s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens)
- African Blues (Solace of the Mind)
External Links
Tags: #avant-garde-jazz, #jazz
Heard on WWOZ
amina claudine myers has been played 2 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.
| Date | Time | Title | Show | Spotify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6, 2026 | 16:06 | Voicesfrom solace of the mind | Jazz from Jax Breweryw/ T.R. Johnson | |
| Dec 16, 2025 | 18:32 | africa bluesfrom solace of the mind | Jazz from Jax Breweryw/ T.R. Johnson |