NOW Orchestra - HEAR IT NOW 2007
By Shane Birley on November 9, 2007 - 6:21pm
Featuring the NOW Orchestra with special guest Amina Claudine Myers and the Voices of Joy Chamber Choir.
NOW Orchestra and Amina Claudine Myers
November 16, 2007, 8 pm
Vancouver East Cultural Centre
1895 Venables Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
Tickets are $20 regular, $15 for members and $5 for students.
Available at the door, at the VECC box office or at TicketMaster (www.ticketmaster.ca / 604.280.3311).
Hear it NOW: The 20th Annual Celebration of New and Improvised Music
Featuring THE NOW ORCHESTRA under the direction of Coat Cooke with special guest AMINA CLAUDINE MYERS
Since 1987, Hear it NOW has brought creative, inventive music to Vancouver audiences, showcasing the finest local, national and international players. NOW’s special guest this year is acclaimed pianist, organist, vocalist, composer and arranger Amina Claudine Myers, who appears with the large ensemble at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre with guest vocalists Christine Duncan, Phoebe MacRae, DB Boyko, Viviane Houle, Peter Hurst and Matthew MacTavish . Celebrate the NOW Orchestra’s 30th anniversary with its 20th Hear it NOW presentation.
About NOW Orchestra
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2007, the NOW Orchestra is a 15-piece improvising ensemble led by saxophonist Coat Cooke that falls under the banner of the New Orchestra Workshop Society, an artist-run society dedicated to producing concerts and workshops of West Coast Canadian creative music. The current ensemble features some of today's most important voices in Canadian improvised music. Following a triumphant appearance at the Lisbon Jazz Festival, recommendation of its latest CD in New York’s Village Voice, and mention in the 2005 DownBeat Critics’ Poll, the orchestra continues its collaborative tradition. NOW collaborators have included John Oswald, Oliver Lake, Barry Guy, Rene Lussier, George Lewis, Wadada Leo Smith and Marilyn Crispell. 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the NOW Orchestra.
About Amina Claudine Myers
Amina Claudine Myers is a celebrated Arkansas-born jazz pianist, organist, vocalist, composer and arranger. She is one of the few women to emerge from Chicago’s creative music scene, and is known for combining her own compelling and original sound with her mastery of blues, gospel and soul music.
Myers started singing and playing the piano and organ as a child in church choirs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas. She graduated in concert music and music education at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas in the early 1960s. After graduation, Myers moved to Chicago where she taught music, attended classes at Roosevelt University and worked with musicians such as Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. In 1966 she joined The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in Chicago, focusing on vocal compositions and arrangements, and recording her first jazz album with Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre in 1969.
In 1976 Myers relocated to New York City, where her career became even more multi-faceted. She composed more, and ventured into the realm of Off-Broadway productions. She also continued performing and recording as a pianist and organist with Lester Bowie (African Children, 1978) and Muhal Richard Abrams (Duet, 1981). In 1985 she joined Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Notable collaborations also include recordings with Bill Laswell, Marian McPartland, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp, David Murray, Arthur Blythe, Frank Lowe, Leroy Jenkins, Jim Pepper and Ray Anderson.
