Maya Angelou

While Maya Angelou earned her chief renown as a poet whose volumes reached bestseller lists, she also presented the composition “In the Pulse of the Morning” during President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. Far fewer listeners knew of her youthful work as a vocalist, a chapter she herself almost never mentioned. In 1957, when she turned 27, the future author issued the calypso collection Miss Calypso, a set of solidly crafted performances that incorporated gentle pop and world-music touches. Light guitar, conga, drum, and bongo parts underpinned the tracks, and the album later appeared on compact disc in 1996. Maya Angelou died at her Winston-Salem, North Carolina home on May 28, 2014, aged 86; the news prompted worldwide reflection on her decades-long stature as one of the most significant African-American authors, artists, activists, and educators of her generation.