Full Description
In a career spanning 70 years, composer, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist David Amram is hailed today as the creator of symphonic works, chamber music, and two operas; as a brilliant jazz and vocal improviser; and the composer of memorable stage and film scores. He has collaborated with many leading musicians, playwrights, artists, actors, and writers, including Jack Kerouac, Woody Guthrie, Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Elmira Darvarova, Paul Newman, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, and hundreds more. An innovator who blended jazz and global folk styles with classical traditions, Amram's career also emphasizes the creative potential of joyful collaboration. This new book offers a fascinating and wide-ranging picture of Amram's work and influence, from the rich, pioneering days of 1950s America to today's embrace of international cultures. It shows how Amram's gift as an on-stage spontaneous creator enriches his formal classical composing. With multi-media links for readers, it is possible to see and hear film and audio highlights and adventures described in this book by important conductors, musicians, performers, scholars, and journalists. This book is the essential guide to a major figure in contemporary music.
Contents
Part I: Introductions
How to Explain David Amram? by Dean Birkenkamp
"All Joy" An Introduction to the Life-Artistry of David Amram, by Gary Lippman
Part II: David Amram's Symphonic and Chamber Compositions
Amram's Concert Hall Compositions, by Dean Birkenkamp
David Amram's Chamber Music, by Elmira Darvarova
Premiering New Amram Compositions, by Kenneth Radnofsky
This Land: Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie, by Laura Schulkind
Sir James Galway: Commissioning and Premiering Giants of the Night, by Keith Marshall
Conducting Amram's Violin Concerto, by JoAnn Falletta
Letting an Orchestra Feel Free and Inspired: The Art of Amram's Conducting, by Howard Wall
A Promising Old Composer: The Power of Creativity in Later Life, by John Leland
Beethoven to Boxing: Artistry in Two Worlds, by Larry Merchant
Part III: Opera and Theater Contributions of David Amram
From Theater to Opera, by Dean Birkenkamp
David Amram: A Jewish Life in Music: The Final Ingredient and other Important Compositions, by Jeff Janeczko
The Essence of David Amram, by Keir Dullea
Remembering the Premiere of Amram's Opera Twelfth Night, by Christopher Alden and David Alden
Filming Twelfth Night, by Lawrence Kraman
Part IV: Amram the Jazz Performer and Composer
A Lifetime in Jazz, by Dean Birkenkamp
David Amram's Early Jazz Years and Collaborations, by Marc Myers
Amram and Cuba: Varieties of Afro-Cuban and Latin Musics, by Arturo O'Farrill
Innovations: Jamming with Amram Across the Decades, by Mark Morganelli
David Amram is a Musical Instrument, by Malachy McCourt
Now is the Time as Creative Manifestation of Consciousness,
by Hugh Ragin
No More Walls: The Ever-Wider World of David Amram, by David Cole
Part V: The Songs of David Amram
From Orchestral Compositions to Spontaneous Lyrics, by Dean Birkenkamp
A Composer's Way with Words, by Hassan Melehy
The Songs of David Amram: Jazz, Classical, Film, and Operatic Compositions, by Gerald Bieritz
Scat and Make-Up Songs: The Art of One-Time Only Rap Reporting, by David Amram
Bourbon is Vegetarian, By Kurt Elling and David Amram
Part VI: The Whole Wide World of Amram's Folk Performance
Performing the World's Music, by Dean Birkenkamp
Melding Folk and Symphonic: Commissioning This Land, by Nora Guthrie
Remembering Odetta: 40 Years of Midnight Adventures, with Kris Kristofferson, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Others, by David Amram
Peforming Folk Music in Many Venues, by John McEuen
The Dean of Hangout-ology at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, by Deana McCloud
A Unique Performer in the Folk World, by Barry Ollman
Musical Adventures with David Amram, by Radoslav Lorkovic
David Amram Doesn't Play Music, by John Cooper
Part VII: Amram the Author—and His Collaborations with Writers
David Amram's Literary Endeavors, by Dean Birkenkamp
Langston Hughes, Jack Kerouac, David Amram, by Ronald Martinetti
Let Us Remember: Review of the Cantata by Langston Hughes and David Amram, by Paul Hertelendy
Vibrations, Musical Differences, Life with Others, by Charles Lemert
On Amram's Book Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat, by Frank McCourt
"Life is Even More Fun at 90" Amram and the Kerouac Legacy, by Holly George Warren
Part VIII: Hollywood and Beyond: Amram's Film Scores
From the Village to Hollywood, by Dean Birkenkamp
Frankenheimer, Sinatra, and the Scoring of The Manchurian Candidate, by Neil Hickey
The Manchurian Candidate: The Novel, the Film, the Music, by Geoff Wills
Cinema's Elusive Musical Poet: Scoring Splendor in the Grass, by Steve Vertlieb
Part IX: Amram's Legacy: Mixing Musical Styles and Performance Traditions
Hearing a Singular Sound in the Universe, by Dean Birkenkamp
Amram's Musical Bouillabaisse, by Larry Kirwan
At Home Around the World, by David Amram
David Amram and Native American Musical Performance, by Matoaka Little Eagle
Native Flutes and Friendship, by Louis Mofsie
Diamonds in the Sidewalk: Kerouac, Amram, and the Bells of Hell, by Robin Hirsch
The Village and the Man Who Makes It Live On, By Elizabeth Thomson
An Icon of Inclusion and Pioneer of World Music, by Douglas Brinkley
Part X: Coda
You are Only as Old as You Make Other People Feel, by David Amram
