Born in Blackwell, Arkansas on March 21, 1942, Amina Claudine Myers is a jazz keyboardist, vocalist, composer, arranger and educator. She is also known for her work involving voice choirs, voice and instrumental ensembles. She began her musical journey at the age of four when she started taking piano lessons. Her family relocated to Roosevelt, Texas when she was seven and began taking violin and piano lessons, finally focusing on the piano when lessons for both became too expensive. Moving back to Blackwell, she attended Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, majoring in music education. In 1963, after graduation, she moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she taught music in the public school system. Briefly attending Roosevelt University, she became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in 1966. She began composing for voice and instruments. Myers moved to New York City in 1976 and within a year, began writing music for theater. In 1979, she released Poems for Piano: The Piano Music of Marion Brown, her first album as a leader. She followed that album with Song for Mother E (featuring Pheeroan akLaff on percussion and gong) and Salutes Bessie Smith, both released in 1980. Other albums in her catalog include The Circle of Time (1983), Amina (1987), Augmented Variations (2004) and Sama Rou (2016). She’s also composed for chamber orchestra, choir, and dance troupes. Myers has recorded or performed with a variety of jazz greats including Charlie Haden, Archie Shepp, Gen Ammons, James Blood Ulmer, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Bill Laswell, and others. As a teacher, she teaches workshops, seminar and residencies at colleges and universities.
