A JAZZ LEGEND Arkansas native Amina Claudine Myers is among those receiving the National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship, the nation's highest jazz honor.
The multi-hyphenate Myers -- she's a pianist-organist-vocalist-composer-arranger-actress-educator -- and fellow recipients Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard and Willard Jenkins will be fêted on April 13 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
"From her early beginnings as a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Amina Claudine Myers has gained acclaim as a skilled composer for voice and instruments, often displaying her gospel influences," according to a news release last week from the NEA.
"It was a great surprise and honor when I got the call about this," Myers says from her home in New York City.
Myers, a member of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame, was born in Blackwell in Conway County and was raised by her great aunt and uncle, who sparked her interest in music. Her family moved to Dallas around 1950 and she began singing in the church. They returned to Blackwell in 1957 when Myers was in high school.
"I learned to appreciate Blackwell as I got older and I realized what a great life I had there," she says.
She attended Philander Smith College in Little Rock and earned a degree in music education. Enrolling there "was the best decision," she says. "That's when I got into jazz ... and it exposed me to classical choral works, which I love."
After graduation, Myers taught at an elementary school in Chicago and joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Her musical "I Dream" was presented in Chicago in 1975. She moved to New York and composed for a number of off-Broadway shows. She collaborated with Chinese composer-vocalist Liu Sola and has performed with jazz artists Lester Bowie, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra and Archie Shepp.
Her discography includes "Poems for Piano: The Piano Music of Marion Brown," "Duet" with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, "Women in (E)Motion Festival," "Jumping in the Sugar Bowl," "Amina Claudine Myers Salutes Bessie Smith," "Augmented Variations" and "Sama Rou: Songs from My Soul."
STORYTELLING ON PBS "Southern Storytellers," the three-part docuseries presented by PBS and Arkansas PBS, debuts Tuesday at 8 p.m. The series, directed by Craig Renaud and produced by Arkansas PBS Chief Executive Officer Courtney Pledger, features interviews with Billy Bob Thornton, novelist Jesmyn Ward and lots of other Southern creative types.
We're looking forward to watching, especially after reading the preview by Al Topich in last Friday's Style section.
email: sclancy@adgnewsroom.com