Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind

RED HOOK RECORDS (RELEASED JUNE 20, 2025)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, pianist Amina Claudine Myers added her rich musical roots in Baptist and Methodist church music, gospel and rhythm and blues to the recordings of Lester Bowie, Muhal Richard Abrams, Frank Lowe and many other forward-thinking musicians of that era. The first recordings Myers did under her own name at that same time positioned her as a keeper of the flame for the richness, emotional intensity and soulfulness of the music that was part of her youth in Arkansas and Texas. That flame burns brighter than ever on Solace of the Mind, promoted as a showcase for Myers talents as a pianist, Hammond B3 player, composer and vocalist. Accompanying herself on organ, the words she recites on “Ode to My Ancestors” sums up this musical memoir — “My ancestors speak to me as I continue my journey.” (Note: This is the only selection that features her organ and vocal skills. The remaining nine selections are solo piano pieces.) The journey includes revisiting “African Blues,” an original she first recorded in 1980 on Salute to Bessie Smith, “Song for Mother E,” the title track from her 1979 recording, “Cairo,” which was featured on her 1989 “In Touch” release and “Steal Away,” a tune she included on Sama Rou in 2016. New to me Myers tunes include “Sensuous,” a majestically mysterious performance packed with her signature chord clusters, the cascading phrases of the Spanish influenced “Voices,” the short and to the point “Hymn for John Lee Hooker” and the twinkling high note passages of “Twilight.” Kudos to producer Sun Chung for capturing the clarity of the deep, dark, joyous and immersive tones of Amina Claudine Myers. It all makes Solace of the Mind spiritual music of the highest order.

BOTTOM LINE: You are alone in a church immersed in the intensely intimate musical preachings of a pianist rooted in Baptist and Methodist church music, gospel and rhythm and blues. Listening to Amina Claudine Myers, Solace of the Mind gives the term soul music a totally new meaning.