Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs began playing piano when she was six years old. While she specializes in traditional African-American gospel, her background also includes jazz, bluegrass and old-time.

She has played for churches since 1971, and has written and arranged gospel songs. She has also studied jazz piano with the late Neal Creque, as well as gospel composition with Ed Ridley.

She spent two years studying jazz theory and composition in the Jazz Studies program at Cuyahoga Community College. In 1995, she received a master artists grant from the Ohio Arts Council.
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